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IMAGE  EVAtUATJbN 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


«,. 


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1.0  ^mm 


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1.25 


"U4 


'Iff    •■"'■' 


►^^^^.^ 


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<^^ 


PhotDgrajiiic 

^SdHices 

Corporalion 


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t%  wMT  MAM  %r4mh*.,  ».,,^.*' 

WWSfM.N.Y.  MSM 


^ 


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■»■ 


CIHM/ICMN 

Microfiche 

Series. 


"s.   • 


->      * 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


) 


Canadian  Inatituta  for  Historical  IMicroraproductiont  /  Inatitut  Canadian  da  microraproductions  hiatoriquaa 


J 


T«chnical  and  Bibliographic  Notat/Nota*  tachniquaa  at  bibliographiquaa 


Tha  Instituta  haa  anamptad  to  obtain  tha  baat 
original  copy  availabia  for  filming.  Faaturaa  of  titia 
copy  which  may  ba  bibliographically  uniqua. 
which  may  altar  any  of  tha  imagaa  in  tha 
raprbduction.  or  which  may  signifieantly  changa 
tha  uaual  mathed  of  filming,  ara  chackad  balow. 


■   V     -.t!^ 


□    Colourad  covara/ 
Couvartuni'da  eouiaur 

rn    Covart  damagad/ 


n 

q 
n 

n 


Couvartura  andommagAa 

Covars  raatorad  and/or  laminatad/ 
Couvartura  rastaurAa  at/ou  palliculte 

Covar  titia  miaaing/ 

La  titra  dtf  couvartut^  manqua 

*  ■ 

Colourad  mapa/  ,   ^ 

I,  Carta*  giographiquaa  »n  coulaur 

Colourad  ink  (i.a.  othar  than  blua  or  black)/ 
Encra  da  coulaur  (i.a.  autra  qua  blaua  ou  noira) 

Colourad  piataa  and/or  illuatrationa/ 
Planchaa  at/pu  illuatrationa  m*  coulaur 

Bound  with  othar  matarial/  . 
RaM  avac  d'autraa  docun)«nta 

TIght'binding  may  cauaa  ahadowa  or  diatortion 
along  intlrior  mirgin/ 
La  ra  liura  aarria  paut  cauaar  da  I'ombra  ou  da  la 
dtetorakm  la  long  da  la  marga  int4rl«ura 


^ 


D 


E 


Blank  laavaa  addad  ddi^graatoration  may 
appaar  wlthHi  tha  taxt.  )Nh»nmvm  poaaibla.  thaaa 
hava  baan  omittad  from  filming/ 
II  aa  paut  qua  cartainaa  pagaa  blanchaa  ajoutAaa 
lora  d'una  raatauration  apparaiaaant  dana  la  taxta, 
'  matai,  loraqua  cahi  Ataft  po^Ma,  oaa  pagaa  n'ont 
paa  «ti  film4aa.  ^ 

• 

Additional  commanta:/  Neirartfon  as  folk»wi 

Commantairaa  iiipplAmantairaa:  v 


L'Inatitut  a  microfilm^  la  maillaur  axamplaira 
qu1l  lui  a  it4  poaaibla  da  aa  procurar.  Las  details 
da  ^t  axamplaira  qui  sont  paut-itra  uniquas  du 
point  da  vua  blbliographiqua,  qui  pauvant  modifiar' 
una  imaga  raproduita.  ou  qui«|^vant  axigar  una 
modification, dans  la  mithodi^  normala  da  fiimaga 
sont  indiquli  ci-dassoua. 

□  Colourad  pagaa/ 
Pagaa  da  coulaur 

□   Pagaa  damagad/ 
Pagaa  andommagtas 

□   Pagas  raatorad  and/or  laminatad/ 
Pagaa  raatauriaa  at/ou  pallicuijAaa 


/I   Pagaa  diacolourad,  stainad  or  foxad/ 
^  '   Pagaa  dAcolorias.  tachatias  ou  piquias 


Tha  I 
to  til 


Tha 
poai 
of  t» 
fliml 


Orig 
bagi 
thai 
slon 
otN 
firat 
slon 
or  ill 


□   Pagas  datachad/ 
Pagaa  dAtachias 

HT]   Showthrough/ 


> 


Tranaparanca 

Quality  of  prir 

Quallt*  inAgala  da  I'impraasion 

Includaa  suppkimantary  matarii 
Comprand  du  matirial  suppl4mantair« 

Only  adition  availabia/ 
Saula  Mition  disponibki 


rn   Quality  of  print  variaa/ 

rn   Includaa  suppkimantary  matarial/ 

rn   Only  adition  availabia/ 


D 


Pagaa  wholly  or  partially  obscurad  by  arrata 
slips,  tissuaa.  ate,  hava  baan  raf ilmad  to 
ansura  tha  bast  possibia  imaga/  ^ 

Laa  pagaa  totalamant  ou  partiallamant 
obSGurciaa  par  un  fauillat  d'arrata.  una  palura, 
ate.,  ont  M  fiimAas  A  nouvaau  da  fa^on  A      ^ 
olHanIr  la  maiNaura  imaga  possibia. 


Tha 
ahal 
TINI 
whi« 

Map 
diffi 
antii 
bagl 
righ 
raqu 
ifiat 


(B]-273p.  Than  ara  Mm* 


hithsmkMtofths 


Thia  itam  is  filmad  ft  tha  raduetton  ratio  chackad  balow/ 

Ca  documant  aat  film*  au  ^ux  da  rMuetion  kidiquA  ei-daaaoua. 


r 


fur 


y 


12X 


liX 


mn 


JIX 


2fX 


12X 


itailt 
I  du 
odifisr' 
'  una 
maga 


/    # 


irrat* 
to 


palura. 
n*      <- 


n 

32X 


Tha  copy  fllmad  hara  haa  baan  raproducad  thanka 
to  tha  oanaroaity  of : 

,   Ubrary  of  th4  Public     .     ' 
Archivaa  of  Canada 

Tha  imagaa  appaaring  hara  ara  thf  baat  quality 
poaaibia  conaidaring  tha  condition  and  lagibiilty 
of  tha  original  copy  and  In  Icaaping  with  tha  * 
filming  cofitract  apacifleationa. 


Original  copiaa  In  printad  papar  covara  ara  fllmad 
baginning  with  tlta  front  cOvar  and  anding  Qn 
tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad  or  iliuatratad  innpraa- 
alon.  or  tha  bacic  covar  wtian  appropriata.  All 
othar  original  copiaa  ara  fllmad  baglnning  on  tha 
firat  Of  ga  with  a  printad  or  Iliuatratad  impraa- 
alon,  and  anding  on  tha  laat  paga  with  a  printad 
or  iliuatratad  Impraaalon.  ' 


Tha  iMt  racordad  framalSn  aach  microficha 
ahaH  contain  tha  aymbd  <-»>  (moaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  tha  aymbol  Y  (moaning  "END"), 
whichavar  appliaa. 

Mapa,  plataa.  charta.  ate,  may  ba  fHmad  at 
diffarant  raduction  ratloa.  Thoaa  too  larga  to  ba 
antlraly  Includad  In  ona  axpoaura  ara  fllmad 
baglnning  in  tha  uppar  laft  liand  cornar.  iaft  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  aa  many  framaa  aa 
raquirad.  Tha  following  dlagrama  llluatrata  tha 
mathod: 


■     '     . 

■  1        -■  ■  ■ 
/               :.    • 

*' 

1 

/ 

2 

.'^   '■' 

\-- 


/ 
/- 


L'axampiaira  fllm4  f|it  raproduK  g^ica  i  la 
g4n*roait«  da: 

La  bibliothAqua  daa  Archivaa 
pubiiquaa  du  Cainada 

Laa  Imagaa  auh^antaa  pnt  #t4  raprodiiitaa  avac  la 
plua  grand  aoin,  compta  tanu  da. la  condition  at 
da  la  nattati  da  i'axamplalra  film*,  at  an 
conformiti  avac  laa  conditlona  du  contrat  da  . 
fllmaga. 

Laa  axamplalraa  originaux  dont  la  couvartura  an 
papiar  aat  Imprim4a  aont  filmAa  an  commanpant 
par  la  pramiar  plat  at  an  tarminant  aoit4>ar  la 
dfrnlAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  ampi^ta 
dithpraaaion  ou  d'iliuatratlon.  adt  par  la  aacond 
plat,  aalon  la  caa.  Toua  laa  autraa  axamplalraa 
originaux  aont  filmte  an  commandant  par  la 
pramMra  paga  qui  comporta  una  amprainta 
d'impraaalon  ou  d'iliuatratlon  at  an  tarminant  par 
ia-darnlAra  paga  qui  comporta  una  tailf 
amprainta. 

Un  daa  ayml»oiaa  auhranta  apparaftra  sur  la 
damMra  imaga  da  chaqua  microficha,  salon  la 
caa:  la  aymbola  -^  aignlfia  "A  8UIVRE".  la 
aymboia  ▼  aignlfia  "FIN". 

Laa  cartaa,  planchaa,  tablaaux,  ate,  pauvant  itra 
filmte  i  daa  taux  da  reduction  diffAranta. 
Loraqua  la  doctimant  aat  trop  grand  pour  itra 
raprodult  an  un  aaul  ciich*,  II  aat  ¥\mk  i  partir 
da  I'angla  aupAriaur  gaucha,  da  gaucha  *  droita, 
at  da  iMut  an  baa,  an  prananila  nombra 
d'Imagaa  nAcaaaalra.  Laa  diagrammaa  a|iivanta 
liiuatrant  la  mithoda. 


■'^^, 


is 


1 


^     I 


6 


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^-. 

■    .     . 

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', 

1     ---♦■             ;■   ■                ■ 

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A  SECOND  VISIT 


o/#  • 


TO 


THE  .UJflTEJ)    STATES 


■*         M*»rsl»/M«l!eMaT«<S)i'^t'^»^>''«^'vnimt^:' 


«f 


NOfiTH  AMERICA; 


BY  SIR  CHARLES  LYELL.  P.R.S.,  , 

»Msii>«NT  or  THs  O.0I.0GICAI,  soonTT  ov  rowDow,  AOTHom  or  "Tioi  TMoscaam 

f'  O»<l»0t0OY,"  ASn  «T«AT«|||  IN  NO»TH  AJt«MOA."  ^ 


'■%-i----'#.- 


i#«.' 


IK    TWO    VOIiUM&Si 


\ 


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,     ,    • « •     e'o     0,0  (      «, 

»      •       •,  f'o   a       •  0  •  1^0 

NEW  yoftK^j 


ttO  <■ 


,:    /" 


HA 


RPER  &   BROTHERS,   PUBLISHERS. 


1849. 


/  V-    . 


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1?    * 


-J  '**.;fe 


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^;  -V  '^'  '¥ 


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\ 


contEn:?s/. 


THE    FIRST   VOLUME. 


:t 


\ 


CHAPTER,!. 


»M»I 


Voyage  from  Liverpool  to  Hali&x.— Gale.— Iceberg.— Drift  loe  and  Golf 
Stream.-— Ooast  of  Newfoundland. — ^Engine  room  of  Steamer. — Con- 
veraationB  on  Coolies  in  the  West  Indies.— Halifiix.— News  of  Judge 
Story's  Death.— Boston.— Success  of  the  Mail  Stemoi  Packets.— Ous- 
tom  House.  Officers     . .        .13 


OHAPTERIL 

Boston. — Horticnltural  Show  in  Faneoil  Hall. — Beview  <^  Militia.—  '. 
Peace  Association.- Excurnon  to  the  White  Mountains.— Bailway^^ 
Traveling. — Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire. — Ge61ogy,  Fosdlsin  Drifk» 
— Submarine  forest. — Wild  Plants:  Asters,  Solidagos,  Poisoo  Ivy.—  ' 
Swallows.— Glacial  Groovofi. — Books  transported  by  Antarctic  Ice.— 
Body  of  a  Whale  discovered  b^  an  Aswrioan  Trader  in  aa  Iceberg    .    97 


CHAPTER  I8t, 


"^%' 


1,J5». 


Portland  in  Maine.— kennebeo  ^ver^Hmbw  Trade. — FonQ  Shells  at 
Gardiner. — Augusta  the  Capital  of  Maine. — Legal  ProfiMBi<:»i :  Advo- 


E,,4.j^uiy|,S(J4^^M|B* 


'*  ■ 


j™mev  ftom  Portod  to  the  White  Moa»t.i«^-K«'<^'™>^     * 

ovT      Ti,«nrv   of  Scratches  and  Grooves  on   Eocks.— Scenery. 
Shde—Theory   ol  Bc"»«'°«      Notch -Forest  Trees  and  Mountain 
Waterfidls  and  Bavines.— The  NotcB.     rore.*  ^ 

Plant».-Fabyan'8Hotel.-Bcho.        .        •        •        •        ' 

OHA|*TBB  V. 

A««nt  of  Mount  Washington-Mr.  Oakes.-Zone.  of  distinct  Vegeta. 

^    Bdt  rf  DwTFl^^-Bald  Region  and  Arctic  Flora  .n  B^^ 

XrVie^Lm  8ummit.-Migration   of  Pl^ts  from  Arctic  Be- 

;l.I^CofCUn..si.eGi«^P^^^^^^^  , 

White  Mountains.-^'ranconia  Notch.— Revival  aiweimeuB 
rMori»t.-TheT.bem«le«Bo«o«.-Monoo^.-B«n«.k.oB    ^ 

New  England  Fanaticism   ..••'• 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Oountr?  ^  *%?  ^' nlt^Tfomm  fcom  d.e  WWte  Mountoin..- 

^Mlm.nt-Po.tOmceAbn»..-I-«.UF»u™.    .        «••«> 
v.,         '.  *        CHAPTER  VIL  ' 

^._N.m«  of  Pile-  ^^'^^'''^'l,^''7lT?r!^X 
T-Their  AuthentioitT  oon.id.«d^D«>oy  P«fid.-A  B«m  Tr.».l- 

"  wL...-0..«e.  of  tb,  P.r^.Ho—Oo.v..~r.-'\°'''°"^ 


Witches.— Uauses  oi  vuo  '"'—_■  tt... ;i_'  ..i  M,wiTr 
Abolitioni.Ss:-Comparafive  tJapacir «  nUM  .wTt*^*^ 
Half.Bre^i«d  HyUpd  InteUeot»  '       -       ' 


93     ^ 


■J#lllllill 


''«.ll''l)l,il.l»l* 


*!>»* 


CfONTBNTS. 


'V  .y:''tfi;iiiiiriy([itniiiilijiiii 


CHAPTER  *1», 


ftr^,^        t.    '"°'°°-^'  ^^-^  °f  Hebrides  1808.-*.^;^ 


rAtm 


107 


^  .  OHAPTEEIX. 

Boaton.— No  Private  Lodeines.— Boa«i?«„  i,  »,     ,  • 

the  curate  on  Health^Larg!^^:^;^,^^^^^^^^ 
ants.-Camages.-Education    of    Ladie^l-Sjl   "^    ''"; 
Incomes-Protectionist    Doctrine«.~Peculiari^^!J""T  "°^ 

Literary  Ta8te«.~Co8t  of  Living—Alarms  of  Fire      .     "^S^^"" 


CHA^PTBB  X. 


•s-iM 


■./^■■ 


■Mf 


Bested-Blind  A^lum  and.  Laura  Bridgeman-Bespect  for  FreedoZ^: 
ofOonscience^emeterypfMountAubnrn-Channing'sCenotaph-^ 
Episcopal    Churdhes-Unitarian  Oongi^gations-Eminent    pLh- 
ers-Progress  of  Uitotarians  why^,  sW.^Their  works  repr&ted  in 

England-Nothmganans-Episo^palian  Asceticism-Separation  of 
Bygion  and  Politics  ... 
*  .    . r     •  •,•«•■•■.•. 


188 


'3-m.. 


k       OHAPTEItXL 

Boston-Whig  Oa,icus.-:Speech  of  Mr.  Webster-PoHtics  in  Ma«chi,^i 
setts- Election  of  Governor  and  Representatives— Thanksgivinij  Da* 
and  Governor's  Proclamation-Absence  of  Pauperism-Iriri,  lLpe#J 
Meeting-Nev.   England  Sympathizer-Visit  to  a  Free  SchoT- 
State  Education— Pay  and  Social  Bank  of  Teachem— Importance  rf 

_ft»^mfeiwjnn  -r-Hapid  Pmgrfess  and  Eflbcti  of  Bdmauioatl  ate#» 


ment— Popular  Lectures— Lending  Librariet 


JM'  • 


mi 


:^-^ 


* 


CONTENTS. 


1^' 


ml 


CHAPTER  XII. 


Bo.$b1v  I»opnlar  Eduoattoti.  continued-Patronage  of  Umvenatae.  and 
Sdence.^hanning  on  MUton-Milton's  Scheme  of  teachtng    he 
Natund  8cienceB.-New  England  Free  SchoolB.--The,r  OngitK-Fatst 
Puritan  Settlers  not  illiter^te.-Sincerity  of  their  BehgiouB  Fa.^- 
Schoob  founded  in  Seventeenth  Century  in  M^^-ettB.-Di^n^ 
a^edin  Virglnia.-8irW.Berkeley'8  Letter-Pastor  Robinson',  Views 
^P^greTin   Religion.^rganization  of^  Congregational  Oh^ch- 
l-No'^enalties  for  DiBsent-ProvisioVmade  for  fatore  V«.atx«« 
"  cLs-Mode  of  working  exempUfi^.-ImpoBribil.ty  of  co^e^^ 
i„g  Truths  relating  to  Religio^f^.^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
to  the  Higher  Classes,  especiaUy  the  Clergy     J>ew  8 

We-The  Lower  Orders  not  render.^  indolent,  discontented  or  ir- 
XouBbyfEducation.    Peculiar  Stimulus  to  Popular  Instruction  in 

the  United  States        .        •     .   • 


iiMM' 


155 


f  » 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


T  ^vius  Boston  for  the  South.-Railway  Stove.-Fall  of  Snow—New 
Haven,  and  Visit  to  Professor  SilUman— New  York— Improvements 
in  the  City.— Croton  Waterworks.^Fountains— Recent  Conflagra- 
tion—New Churches.-Trinity  Church— News  from  Europe  of  Con- 
verts to  Rome— Reaction  against  Tractarians— Electric  Telegraph, 
itsProgres  in  America— Morse  and  Wheatstone— 11,000  Schools  in 
NewYorltfor  Secular  instruction— Absence  of  Smoke— Irish  Voters.. 
— Nativism. '        "        * 

;    .    .        ,  CHAPTER  XIV. 

New  York  to  Philadelphia.— Scenery  in  New  Jersey.— War  about  Ore- 
gon.—Protectioni^  Theories.— Income  Tax  and  Rep9diation.— Re- 
criminations against  British  Aggrandizement— Irish  Quarter  and 
frauaulent  Voti.—Wa8hington.— Congress  and  Annexation  of  Texas. 
— General  Cai  for  War.— Winthrop  for  Arbitiration.- Inflated  Elo- 
quance— Supreme  Court.-Slavery  in  District  of  Columbia.- 
Museum,  cJlectiota  of  Corals— Sculpture  from  Palenque.— Conversa- 
tions with  Mr.  Fox.— A  Residence  at  Washington  not  favorable  to  a 
fapigytJTTi/t^  »f  the  UnitedStates.—Fali»  Portion  of  Foreign  Diplo- 


178 


TW" 


I', '  -.* 


pjLa> 


178 


-wr 


OHAPTBB  M 


^^t- 


■ii»i 


~^\  . 


B«*..-Wh.te.  ™l^  „M,  fa,.  Neg^  in  the  Mine.  .       .  a05 

OHAPTBB  Xn' 

ABti.EngtoF<»Bngc.™rfbyNew.p.porP™rrNrJI^!rr:       ' 
^  of  U.a   Americ™..^Dr.   B«>in^;  Zoology.-G^S^*^ 
a.pr«ent.tion  of  SpeciM._BMtl.A^e.._T^e/Bim«r  „. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

0 

Oharleston  to  Savannah.-Beaaforf  River,  or  InlandNavigation  in  South 
Carolma.--Slaye  Stealer. -Cockapur  Ldand.-Rapid  growth  ofOystem 
--Eagle  caught  by  Oyster—Excursion  from  Savannah  to  Skiddaway 
I8land.-Megatherium  and  Mylodon.-Cabbage  Palms,  or  tree  Palmet- 
tos—D^epuve  Appearance  of  Submari^jPorest—Amgators  swal- 
loMnng  nmt8.-^heir  Tenacity  of  Life  m  de«^ 
ofLive  Oafafc^laves  taken  to  Free  StateJv  ■      .      -J      .  .230 

-  CHAPTER  XVm. 

Savannah  to   Darien.-Anti-Slave,7   Meeting   discussed—War  with 
England— Landing   at  Darien.-0rackers-8cenerjr    on   Altamah»  .    ' 
aver.-Negro  Boatmen  singing.-MarBh  Blackbiid  in  Rice  Grounds.- 

Ho«p,tahty  of  Southern  Planters— New  Clearing  and  Natural  Rotation"^     ' 
of  Trees— B.rfs.^hrike  and  Kingfisher.-Excnniion  to  St.  R^,«»»>,         • 


'Buacr-s  isrsfid  aSa   Negroes— stumps  of  Tro0  hi  fikat   > 


y 


Sii 


CONTENTS. 


t.A, 


th»% 


-%i' 


•    Manxes  proving  Subsidence  of  Land.— Alligator  seen.— Their  Nestt 
/   and  Habits.— Their  Fear  of  Porpoises.— Indian  Shell.Mound  on  St,    ^ 
Simon's  Island.— Date-palm,  Orange,  Lemon,  and  Olive  Trees.— Hup-    ^ 
xicanes.— Visit  to  outermost  Barrier  Island.— Sea  Shells  on  Beaph.r-  ^^^ 
i     Nepo  Maid-Servaiito .        .       .    •   .'       .        •       •       ^       ♦ 


■  7 


240 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


j^v^madettirbidby  the  Clearing  ofForests.—Land  rising  in  sucoessifef 

Terreces.— Origin  of  these.— Bones  of  extinct  Quadrupeds  in  Lower         ■ 
^.Terrace.— Associated  Marine  Shells.- Digging  of  Brunswick  Canal.—      • 
Extinction  omegatherium  and  its  Oontempories.— Dying;  out  of  rare       ^ 
Sj^ies  --Gordonia Pubescens.- Life  Of  So-them  Planters— Negroes 
on  a  Rice  .Plantation.- Black  Child»«n-— Separate  Negro  Houses.— 
Work  exa<5ted.— Hospital  for  Wegroes.— Food  and    Dress.— Black 
Driver!— Prevention  of  c^tmes-s-African  Tom.— Prbgffess  of  Negroes 
in  Civilization.-  ^conversions  to  Christianity. — EpiscopUian,  Baptist     ^ 
and  Meth*****'  Miarionaries.— ^Amalgarnation  and  Mixture  ofRacea    .  256 


"IP** 


/. 


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^1/    ' 


A  SECOND  VISIT 


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-e. 


lit 


T  H  E^P  K-I  ^  E  B    STJITES. 


~  '  :         CUAFTEH  I. 

Voyage  iwm  Liverpool  to  Halifax.^-GaJe— Iceberg.— Drift  Ice  and  Gulf 
Sto«am.— Coast  of  Newfoundland.— Engine-irbom  of  Steamer.— Conver- 
sations on  Coohes  in  the  West  Indies.— Halifax— News  of  Judge  Storv»a 
''  -g^JJ;^^"^"— ^''^^^^^'o^  ^e  MaU  Steam  Packets.— Custom  Hoie 

Sept.  4.   1845.^^ Embarked  with  my  wife  at  Liverpool,  in 
go  BntanmaC^ne  of  the  Cunard  line  ofj  steam-ships,  bound  foi- 
Halifax  and  Boston.     On  leaving  the  wtar^  we  had  first  been 
crammed,  with  ar  crowd  of  passengers^  and  heaps  of  luggage,  into 
a  diminutive  steadier,  wh^h  looked  like  a^toy  by  the  side  of  the 
larj:er  ship,  of  1200  tons,  in  which  we  were  to  cross  the  ocean  ' 
I  was  reminded,  however,  by  a  friend,  that  this  smaU  braft  was" 
more  than  three  times  as  large  as  one  of  the  open  caravels  of 
Columbus,  in  his  first  voyage,  which  was  only  15  tons  burden 
and  without  a  deck.     It  is,  indeed,  marvelotis  to  reflect  on  the 
daring  of  the  early  adventurers;  for  Frobisher,  m  1^6,  made 
his  way  firom  the  Thames  to  the  shores,  tif  Labrador  with  two 
iwaaU  barks  of  20  and  25  tons  each,  n6t  much  surpassing  in  size 
Ae  barge  of  a  maii-of-war  ;  and  Sir, Humphry  Gilbert  crossed  to  ' 
Newfoundland,  in  1583^  in  a  bark>f  10  tons  only,  irhich  was 
lotrt  m  a  tflmpeat  oiMh»  JwttHgr 


"voyager 


/ 


rift: 


£ 


14 


OALE. 


[Chap.  i» 


-W-' 


a    ^-■:.^:- 


') 


The  morning  after  we  set  sail  we' found  ourselves  off  Cork,  in 
the  midst  of  the  experimental  squadron  of  steamers  and  ships  of 
the  line,  commanded  by  Sir  Hyde  Parker.  They  had  been  out 
several  weeks  performing  their  nautical  evolutions,  and  we  had 
the  amusement  of  passing  close  to  ^e  largest  ships  of  the  fleet — 
the  St.  Vincent  and  the  Superb.  Our  captain  fired  a  salute  as  , 
we  went  under  the  batteries  of , the  last  of  thesfr— the  Admiral's 

ship.  .,  J       r 

'    After  saiUng  at  the  rate  of  more  than  200  miles  a  day  lor 
four  days,  our  progress  was  retarded,  Sept.  8,  by  an  equinoctial 
gale,  whifh  c^e  in  from  the  southwest,  and,  blowing  for  twelve 
hours,  raised  such  a  sea,  that  we  only  made  four  miles  an  hour. 
Another  -gale  of  still  greater  violenoe*came  on  six  days  after- 
ward, on  the  night  of  the  14th,  when  the  ship  was  running  at 
the  rate  of  ten  and  a  half  miles,  an  hour,  along  the  eastern  edge 
of  the  Great  Bank.     The  wind  had  been  N.E.,  when  suddenly^ 
and  in  an  instant,  it  blew  from  the  N.W.     I  was  in  my  berth 
below  when  this  squall  struck  the  .vfessel,  and  supposed  that  we 
had  run  upon  some  floating  timber  or  an  iceberg.      We  felt  the  « 
ship  heel  as  if  falUng  over.     On  inquiry  next  day  of  the  captain, 
and  the  only  passenger  who  was  on  deck  at  the  time  of  this  con- 
cussion, I  learnt  that  they  saw  a  cloud  of  white  foam  advancing 
toward  them  on  the  surface  of  the  sea  from  the  N.W.,  like  a 
line  of  surf  on  a  beach.     The  captain  had  time  to  get  the  sails 
hauled  half  up,  all  except  th^  top-sail,  which  was  torn  to  pieces, 
when  the  advancing  line  of  foam  reached  the  ship,  at  which 
^    momentt  there  was  some  vivid  lightning,  which  the  passenger 
thought  was  the^  cause  of  the  blow  resembling  the  stroke  of  a 
solid  body  against  the  iteamer.     When  the  wind  first  filled  the 
sails  in  an  opposite  direction,  it  seemed  as  if  the  masts  must  give 
^  way.     All  hands  had  been  called  on  deck,  and  the  men  went 
^  into  the  rigging  to  furl  the  sails  with  the  utmost  order  and  cool- 
ness.    In  a  few  minutes  the  wind  had  veered  Vapidly  round  the 
compass,  frpm  N.W.  to  N.E.,  and  then  went  on  to  blow  from 
this,  the  old  quarter  again,  a  perfect  hurricane  for  twenty-three 
hours ;  the  spray  beings  carried  mast  high,  so  that  there  was  a 


I- 


#  ,* «.  P  4fi| 


-„)►- 


Oba]>.  I.] 


PORPOISES. 


15 


the  cloud  which  enveloped  us  consisted  chiefly  of  the  foam  blown 
off  the  crests  of  the  waves,  or  of  the  driving  npst  and  rain  which 
were  falling  during  the  greatdf  part  of  the  day.  ; 

Among  our  passengers  were  some  experienced  American  sea- 
captains,  who  had  commanded  vessels  of  their  &wa  round  Cape 
Horn  and,  being  now  for  the  first  time  in  a  steamer  at  sea,  were 
watching  with  professional  interest  the  Britaiiiia's  behavior  in' 
the  storm.    They  came  to  the  conclusion,  that  one  of  these  vessefe^^ 
well-appointed,  wj^h  a  full  crew,  skilled  officers,  and  go^  en- 
gineers, was  safer  than  any  sailing  packet;  being  light  in  their 
rigging,  and  having  small  sails,  they  run  no  danger  of  having 
their  masts  carried  away  in  a  stiff  breeze;  and  the  power  of  steam 
enables  them  always  to  make  way,  so  as  to  steer  and  keep  their 
head  to  the  wind,  on  which  safety  depegj,.      It  sometimes  hap- 
pens  when  a  wave  strikes  a  sailing  veslPn  a  squall,  that  before 
she  has  time  to  work  round  arid  get  her  head  to  windward,  an- 
other wave  breaks  over  and  swamps  her,  and  to  such  an  accident 
the  loss  of  several  packets  betwdfen  the  United  States  and  Liver- 
pool  is  attributed. 

I  observed  that  there  was  no  lightning  conductor  in  our  ship  • 
and  It  seems  to  be  the  prevailing  belief  that  steam-boats  are  less 
hable  than  other  vessels  to  suffer  from  lightning,  although  the 
Bttamers  m  the  royal  navy  are  fitted  with  copper-wire  rope  con- 
ductors. 

My  chief  amusement,  when  the  weather  was  moderate,  ww 
to  watch  the  poT^iaes\I)elphinus  phocmna)  gamboling,  roUing 
and  tumbling  m  the  water,  arid  yet  keeping  up  with  our  ship 
when  she  was  running  eleven  miles  an  hour.  They  were  very 
numerous,  usually  following  each  other  in  a  line  at  short  intervals 
each  mdividual  about  four  or  five  feet  long,  their  backs'of  a  blue^ 
ish-black  color,  swimming  without  effort,  and  seeming  scarcely  to 
move  either  tiieir  fins  or  tail.  OccasionaUy  they  dive,  and  theit 
re-appear  tJKtake  breath  at  a  great  distance,  often  leaping  up  out 
of  the  water,  so  as  to  display  their  sUvery  white  bodies.  The 
on  y  other  living  creatures  which  attracted  our  attention,  when 
_!:'      ",  ^^'^  ^^"^^'  '^^'^^  ^""™o»B  flights  of        ■  •   ■ 


TM  air,  W  were  seen  swimming  on  the  ocean  near  the  shoal  called 


"i 


^ijL/^«.K£l^.^d£ai6t^^  ^A 


\,> 


16 


lOEBHRG. 


EChap.  I. 


^ 


the  Fleimsh  Cap,  lat.  47°  35'  N. ;  long.  44°  32'  W.  They 
feed  on  fish  peculiar  to  these  comparatively  shaUQW  parts  of  the 
Atlantic.  •     ?      .     v  .  ; 

But  the  event  of  chief  interest  to  me  on  this  voyage  was  he-' 
holding,  for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  a  large  iceherg.  It  came 
in,  sight  on  the  13th  Sept.,  a  season  when  they  are  rarely  met 
with  here.  We  were  nearing  the  Great  Bank,  which  was  ahout 
eight  miles  distant,  the  air  foggy ^  so  that  I  could  only  see  it' 
dimly  through  the  telescope,  although  it  was  as  white  as  snow, 
and  supposed  hy  the  officers  to  he  ahout  200  feet  high.  The 
foggy  and  chilly  state  of  the  atmosphere  had  led  the  captain  to 
suspect  the  proximity  of  floating  ice,  and  half-hourly  ohservations 
had  heen  made  on  the  temperature  of  the  seaf4)ut  the  water  was 
always  at  49°  F.,  as  is  usual  in  this  month.  We  were  then  in 
lat.  47°  37'  N.,  long.  45°  39'  W.,  our  latitude  corresponding  to 
that  of  the  Loire  in  France.  •  v 

To  a  geologist,  accustomed  to  seek  for  the  explanation  of  vari- 
ous phenomena  in  the  British  Isles  and  Northern  Europe,  espe^ 
cially  the  transportation  of  huge  stones  to  great  distances,  and  the 
polishing  and  grooving  of  the  surfaces  of  solid  rocks,  by  referring 
to  "the  agency  of  icebergs  at  remote  periods,  when  much  of  what 
is  now  land  in  the  northern  hemisphere  was  still  submerged,  it  ig 
no  small  gratification  to  see,  for  the  first  time,  one  of  these  icy 
masses  floating  so  far  to  the  southward.  I  learnt  from  ^r  cap- 
tain that  last  year,  June  1844,  he  fell  in  with  an  iceberg  aground 
at  some  distance  from  the  land  off"  Cape  Race,  on  the  S.E.  point 
of  Newfoundland,  in, lat.  46°  40'  N.  It  was  of  a  square  shape, 
100  feet  high,  and  had  stranded  in  a  sea  of  some  depth  ;  for  its 
sides  wjre  steep,  and  soundings  of  fifty  fathoms  were  obtained 
close  to  the  ice.  It  was  seen  at  the  same  spot  ten  days  after- 
ward by  a  brig.  A  militqjiy  officer  on  board  also  tells  me  that 
last  year,  when  he  was  in  garrison  in  Newfoundland,  an  iceberg 
continued  aground  in  the  harbor  of  St.  Jol\n's  for  a  year,  and 
they  used  to  fire  cannon-balls  at  it  from  the  battery.  There^are, 
indeed,  innumerable  well-authenticated  cases  of  these  islands  of 
floating  ice  having  stranded  on  the  great  oceanic  shoals  S.E.  of 
K  -oven  in  plauos  whwB  ihe  water  ii  no  Iww  tfaair 


^ 


■^'SjimX:^''-.: 


w.' 


Chap.  I.] 


DRIFTII 


ICEBEBGS. 


lOO/athoms  deep,  the  averi^^aepth  over  the  OrA«t  n  \  x.  - 
from  fortyto  fifty  fatho™.%Hf.''t^:;,t:  ^'t  !^t^ 
the«  cour«  .s  not  8mprising,  when  we  consider  that  ^7™^  ^ 
float,„g  .„e  below  water  i,  eight  time,  greater  than  ^tXe 

we«ht  of  these  enormous  masses,  and  the  momentum  which 
they  acquire  when  unpeUed  by  winds  wd  currents.  Td  when 
S.T*""™^  '*  *°  "*"  "^  «.veral'miles  an  hoW^Tt  ^^ 
^„  Vt.7''"^^'^*'  *«  disturbance  which  they  mL^t  cT^ 
on  a  soft  bottom  of  mud  or  lodse  sand,  or  the  grinding  wwerT^^ 
must  exert  when  they  grate  alone  a  shelf  nf  ^Z  ,  ^  ^ 
with  a  layer  of  sand  ^  K>hd  rock  overspread 

p^VTirf^yr^rirr-^^^^^^ 

have  been  met  with  at  various  points  between  the  47 th  and  3 6th 
?;out  of  latitude,  the  most  southern  being  tha  wh^^h^ta^ 
Couthuoy  encountered,  lat.  36°  10'  N  W  qqo  w  i^- *f 
lonff  and  100  feet  bJn-l,       t«u-  \  ^'  ^^    ^'^  ™i^« 

boundrrv  nffi         ?  ■'     ^''  ^^'^  "^^^  ^'^  ^«  «^t'e«ie  southern 

same  for  the  next  Z  T       }  '  "^^  continue  nearly  the    ' 

^.        •Anw.Joam.  floienoe,  vol.  xlviii.  1844. 

.-;...i„j:^::^..i^-: _._    'J       r-*^    ■___.„__ 


^fsf. 


i 


^ 
•^ 


18 


COAST  OF  NEWFOUNDLAND. 


[O0AP.  I. 


of  the  Atlantic,  and  in  given)  directions.     The  natural  course  of 
Oceanic  currents  transporting  ice  from  polar  regionslsfrom  N.E. 
to  S.W.;  the  westerly  inclination  being  due  to  the  influence  <4 
the  increased  Velocity  of  the  diurnal  rotation  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face as  we  proceed  southward.     Now  it  is  a  well-known  fact, 
and  one  of  great  geological  interest,  which  I  had  an  opportunity 
of  verifying  myself  in  1 842,*  that  in  Canada  the  polished  surfaces 
of  hard  rocks  exhibit  those  striae  and  straight  parallel  grooves 
(such  as  are  generally  ascribed  to  glacial  action)  in  a  N.E.  and  ,^ 
S.W.  direction,  and  the  blocks  called  erratic  have  also  traveled 
from  N.E.  to  S.W.     Their  course,  therefore,  agrees,  as  Mr. 
Redfield  has  pointed  out,  with  the  normal  direction  of  polar  cur- 
rents charged*  with  ice,  where  no  disturbing  causes  have  inter- 
vened.    In  order  to  account  for  the  phenomenon,  we  have  to  sup- 
pose that  Canada  was  submerged  at  the  time  when  the  rocks 
were  polished  and  striated  by  the  grating  of  the  ice  on  the  ancient 
sea-hottom  ;  and  tliat  this  was  actually  the  case,  is  proved  by  in- 
dependent evidence,  namely,  the  occurrence  of  marine  shells  of 
recent  species  at  ^various  heights  above  the  level  of  th6  sea  in 
the  regidh  drained  by  the  St.  Lawrence.t     Professor  Hitchcock 
haf  shown  thatj  in  Massachusetts,  there  is  another  system  of 
strifiB  and  groovef  running  from  N.N.E.  to  S.S.W. ;  the  bould- 
ers and  transported  blocks  of  the  same  region  having  taken  a  cor- 
responding course,  doubtless,  in  consequence  of  the  floating  ice-  , 
bergs  having,  in  that  ^use,  been  made  by  winds  or  currents,  or 
the  shape  of  the  land  and  sea-bottom,  to  deviate  from  the  normal 
direction.  . 

Many  of  the  icebergs  annually  drifted^nto  southern  latitudes 
in  the  Atlantic,  are  covered  with  seals,  which  are  thus  brought 
into  very  uncongenial  climates,  and  probably  are  never  able  to 
make  theix  way  back  again.  They  are  often  seen  playing  about 
the  rocks  on  the  shores  of  Massachusetts  in  summer,  so  that  they 
seem  able,  for  a  time  at  least,  to  accorowodftte  themselves  tp  con- 
siderable heat. 

Early  o;i  the  morning  of  the  15th  of  September,  the  captain 


t  Hfw^  "  T.yflirH  Tra 


t  Ibid.  vol.,U.  p.  148. 


ariflfc,"  Tol.  ii,  p.  18g. 


•r 

Chap.  L]  ,  ENGINE-ROOM  OF  A  STEAMER. 


got  sight  of  land,  consisting  of  th^  hiUs  near  St.  John^s  New- 
foundJand,  about  forty  miles  distant.  When  we  came  ok  deck 
we  were  rumnng  rapidly  in  smooth  Water  along  the  shore,  withii^ 
four  miles  of  Trespassey  Bay.  The  atmosphere  Was  bright^  and 
we  had  a  clear  view  of  the  rocky  coast,  which  reminded  me  of 
some  of  the  most  sterUe,  cold,  and  treeless  parts  of  Scotland 
N^  even  a  shrub  appeared  to  vary  the  uniform  covering  of  green 
tarf ;  yet  we  were  m  a  latitude  corresponding  tp  the  sjuth  of 
France.  •  ::  .    , .; ._.__!_. .___i 4.^.-1.}:^^^ 

In  a  large  steam-ship  like  the  Btritannia,  there  are  thXe  very 
distmct  societies,  whose  employments  during  the  voyagelare  sin* 
gularly  contrasted.     .There  are  the  sailors,  all  of  whotn  were 
fully  occupied  under  their  officers,  for  a  time  at  least,  d Jring  th© 
gale,  furling  the  sails  and  attending  to  the  ordinary  dulies  of  a 
sai  mg  ship.     Then  there  is  the  saloon,  where  gentleiLen  and 
well-dressed  ladies  are  seen  lounging  and  reading  booksjor  taU^i 
ing,  or  playing  backgammon,  and  enjoying,  except  duriJg  a  hui* 
ricane,  the  luxuries  and  expensive  fare  of  a  large  hitel      Ta 
another  spacious  room,  which  I  ha*d  the  curiosity  to  Visit' after 
the  storm,  is  a  large  corps  of  enginemen  Und  firemen,  ^ith  sooty 
faces  and  soiled  clothes,  pale  with  heat,  heaping  up  coils  on  the 
great  furnaces,  or  regulating  the  machinery.     On  vijiting  the 
large  engine-room,  we  were  filled  with  admiration  at  {eei^  the 
comphcated  apparatus,  and  the  ease  with  which  it  mov<^d  having 
never  once  stopped  for  a  minute  when  traversing  3000  miles  of 
ocean,  although  the  vessel  had  been  pitching  and  rblling   and 
sometimes  quivering,  as  she  was  forced  by  the  power  of  the  steam 
against  the  opposing  waves,  and  although  the  ship,  had  sometimes 
heeled  at  a  very  high^^gle.  especially  when  struck  suddenly  by 
the  squall  of  the  14th.  ^he  t^ine  is  so  plabed  near  the  center 
ot  the  ship  that  during  a  storm)the  piston  is  never  inclined  at  a 
higher  angle  than  twelve  degrees,  which  does  not  derange  the 
freedom  of  its  motion.     The  Bi/itannia.  a  ship  of  1 200  tons,  haa 
ftjur  large  boilers;    the   engines   having  a   440    horse   power. 
When  she  left  f^iverpool  she  had  550  tons  of  coals  in  her.  and 
burned,  from  .thirty  to  forty  tons  a  dny.  her  Hpeed  augmcnUiij 


71^«Hy  toward  the  end  of  the  voya^,  •■•^.f|ow  lightJ^ 


.  £,.'jA^  , 


s.^:g»r 


80 


REVOLUTIONS  OF  ENGINE. 


[0h4F.  L: 


^  on  the  other  hand,  the  vibration  caused  by  the  machineri 
pasing  also,  much  to  the  discomfort  of  the  passengers 
aimon^  the  wonders  of  the  engine-room,  no  object  make  so 
tvely  an  impression  on  my  mind  as  a  smaU  dial,  caUed  the 
Indicator,  where  a  hand,  like  that  of  a  clock,  moving  round  in  a 
mcle.  registers  the  number  of  revolutions  made  by  the  wheels  of 
the  engine  dunng  the  whole  voytige ;   this  hand  or  index  being 
attached  to  one  of  the  moving  shafts,  and  made  to  advanc^ 
Bhghtly  by  eve^  stroke^     We  were  going  at  the  time  at  the 
rate  of  ten  and  a  half  miles  an  hour,  and  the  paddle-wheels 
were  revolving  fifteen  and  a  half  times  a  minute ;  but  during  the 
gale  they  had  only  made  six  or  seven  xevolutions,  the  engineer 
to  avoid  too  great  a  strain  on  the  machinery,  having  then  burned 
much  less  coal,  and  going  no  more  than  half  speed.     Our  short- 
est  day  s  sail,  during  the  whole  voyage,  was  114  miles!      I  ' 
observed,  on  our  arrival  at  Boston,  that  the  number  of  revolu- 

iT/of^  ?  ^-  "^1  ^''^'^''''  ™  ^''^'^22,  the  ship  having 
n-  2946  mdes  m  fourteen  days  and  twenty-two  hours;  t^ 
distance  from  Liverpool  to  HaUfax  being  2550  miles,  and  from 
^^ce  to  Boston  396.  For  the  sake  of  comparing  'this  re^^ 
with  former  voyages  ^of  the  Britamiia.  I  made  the  following 
extract  from  the  Log  Book  of  the  chief  engineer  :_  ^ 


Number  of 
Revolutions 
of  the  Engines. 

.  273,328  .  . 

.  253,073  .  . 

282,409  .  . 


Length  of 

Voyage. 

Days.  Hours. 

.  14      12 

.  11         8 

.  18     13 
14       2 


Outward  Voyage,  May,   1845 

Homeward    do.       June,      " 

Outward        do.       July,       " 

Homeward    do.     .  August,  "     .  .  .  .  292  122 

It  is  remarkable  how  nearly  the  number  of  strokes  madcT  by 
the  engine  in  our  present  voyage  agrees  with  those  recorded  in 
wT'^'.w^*  May.  which  it  will  be  seen  was  of  the  sain^ 
length  with  he  exception  of  a  few  hours,  the  longer  voyage 
exhibiting  a  slight  excess  in  the  number  of  revolutiol  In  fu 
the  four  trips,  the  difference  between  the  highest  and  lowest 
Z^ir\T"7!^  tono  more  than  a  seventh  or  eighth  of  the 
!!!!!!r:..  ,^1 ''  ^^>^.  ^^^  ^^g^^^^  pulsatign  of  the  heart,  beating  a 
«iTen  numbei  of  tunes  m  a  minute  ;^e  pulse  quioi^i^diimg 


-— -"^--rniii^iipi 


Chap.  I.] 

I  #3p«v»r— — — — 


OOOUES  IN  THE  WEST  INDIES. 


fil 


excitement  and  more  rapid  motion,  and  being  dower  when  in 
comparative  rest,  yet  on  the  whole  preserving  a  remarkahS 
nmformity  of  action.  Nor  can  any  one  in  fuU  health  and  viZ- 
^  7'«  "^^°«°^ou8  of  ike  rapid  contractions  and  dilatation^f 
the  heart  than  are  nearly  all  the  inmates  of  the  steam-ship  of 
the  comphcated  works  and  movements  of  the  machinery,  on  the 
accuracy  of  which  their  progress  and  safety  depends         ' 

In  the  course  of  the  last  twelve  months,  the  steamers  on  this 
hne  have  sometmies  taken  as  much  as  seventeen,  and  even 
twenty-one  days,  to  make  their  passage  against  hpad  winds  by 
Hahfax  to  Boston;  but  the  comparative  advantage  of  steam 
power  18  never  more  evident  than  at  the  periodlf  the  most 

totr^r™"' *^%^''' ^'^^  «^^ '^^^^^ 
to  cross  in  corresponding  seasons. 

During  the  passage  ^e  had  sonie  animated  discussion^i.  the 
saloon  on  the  grand  experiment  now  making  by  flifStiA 
govermnent.  of  impjirting  Coolies,  or  Hindoo^^t^  fiom  fe 
Decoan  into  the  West  Indies,  to  make  np  forX  dSciency  of 
Negw  labor  consequent  on  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  Ve 
had  on  board  a  Liverpool  merchant,  who  had  a  large  contract 
for  conveying  these  CooUes  across  ^e^oeean^d  who  told  Z 
that  more  than  forty  ships  would  be^^^^Uiis  year  TlSiT) 
m  earning  each  30»  Hindoo  laborers  to  jlaica.  at  the  Wof 
£16  per  head,  and  that  he  should  seU  the  casks,  which  con- 

Indies.     The  ^w  Englanders  on  board  wished  to  know  how 
f«:  th«  proceeding  differed  fiom  a  new  slave  trade,      ft  vZ 
explained  to  Aem  that  the  emigrants  were  starving  in  their  oZ   ' 
country;  that  the  act  was  a  voluntary  one  ^Teir  part"  .IS 

^ve'tht'  \*''*  *°™  "i  y^'  *«  S""""™*  wa.'^boukd  to 
give  them  a  free  passage  back  to  their  native  country.     Of  this 

availed  themselves.     It  was  ds.  alleged  that  Ly  mad^  S 

hS  ntr      .  T"^"""  "•*"  "y  ""'"■■y  t'"'  dWnct  races, 
having  different  language,  and  religions,  such. a.  N««oe.  .J 

ninaoos.  »  a  vune  uf  the  greatest  JHSffiRiK  iiriinhe  m™,^ 


©■ 


'^' 


\ 


r 


22 


COOLIES  IN  THE  WEST  INDIES. 


IOhap.  i. 


laBtiug  kind,  as  experiencer  had  pifj^  tfaroughput  the  Amerioan 
continent.  - 

A  Barbadoes  planter,  who  was  pr^nt,  declared  his  opinion 
that  in  his  island  the  emancipation  of  the  negroes  had  heen' suc- 
cessful ;  the  population,  about  120,000,  being  d^hse,  and  a  large 
proportion  of  them  having  white  blood  in  their  veins,  with  many 
of  the  wants  of  civilized  men,  and  a  strong  wish  to  educate  their 
childjMn.  The  Americans,  however,  drew  from  him,  the  admis- 
sion, that  in  proportion  as  the  colored  people  were  rising  in  so- 
ciety, the  whites, /whose  aristocratic  feelings  and  tastes  wete 
wouiided^^  the  increased  importance  of  the  inferior  race,  were 
leaving  Barfeadoes,  the  richest  of  them  retrea|ing  to  England, 
and  the  poor  seeking  their  fortunes  in  the  United  States.  It  was 
also  conceded,  that  in  the  larger  islands,  such  as  Jamaica,  which 
the  Americans  compared  to  their  Southern  States,  the  negroes 
have-  retreated  to  unoccupied  l^yads  and  squatted,  and  could  not 
be  induced  to  la^r,  and  were  therefore  retrograding  in  civiliza- 
tion ;  so  that  the  experience  of  more  than  ten  years  would  be 
required  before  the  Americans  could  feel  warranted  in  imitating 
the  example  of  England,  even  if  they  had  the  means  of  indemni- 
fying the  southern  planters. 

We  landed  at  Halifax  on  the  17th  of  Septemlwr,  and  spent 
some  hours  there  very  agreeably,  much  refreshed  by  a  walk  on 
terra  firma,  and  glad  to  call  on  some  friends  in  the  town.  I 
was  surprised  to  find  that  some  of  our  fellow  passengers,  bound 
for  Montreal,  intended  to  go  on  with  us  to.  Boston,  instead  of 
stopping  here;  so  great  are  the  faoilities  now  enjoyed  of  traveling 
from  New  England  to  Canada,  passing  viA  Boston  by  railway  to 
Albany,  and  thence  by  steam-boats  through  Lakes  George  and 
Champlain  to  Montreal. 

The  chief  subject  qf  conversation,  during  the  remaining  two 
days  of  our  voyage,  was  the  death  of  Judgfe  Story,  the  eminent 
jurist,  whose  works  and  decisions  have  been  often  cited  as  of  high 
authority  by  English  judges.  The  news  of  this  unexpected  event 
reached  us  at  Halifax,  and  was  evidently  a  matter  of  deep  con- 
cern to  his  fellow  citizens,  by  whom  he  had  been  much  loved  and 

af^^^n^rfl^^         Aftar  Tftt.iring  frnm  tbf>  hpinrih  of  tbfi  Supnimft   Court 


ur 


V 


.■^. 


Ohap.  L] 


JUDGE  STORY. 


S3 


atSV'aahington,  Story  ln4bt  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Law 
School  in  Harvard  Univerafy^^hich  he  had  soon  raised  to  celeb- 
rity firpra  small  beginnings^  drawing  students  to  Ms  lectures  from 
every  state  of  the  Union. 

*  I  afterward  read,  in  the  newspapers  of  Boston,  several  funeral 
orations  pronounced  in  his  honor,  some  from  the  pulpit,  by  preach- 
ers of  his  own  denomination  (he  was  president  of  the  Unitarian 
Association),  which  praised  him  for  his  pure,  scriptural,  and  lib- ' 
eral  Christianity,  and  represented  him  as  an  earnest  defender  of 
the  faith,  one  who  had  given  to  its  evidences  that  accurate  inves- 
tigation which  his  reiiecting  mind  and  professional  habits  demand- 
ed. *«  What  he  found  to  be  true,  he  Was  n^ver  ashamed  or  afraid 
to  declare.  He  valued  the  Gospel  and  felt  his  own  need^  of  its 
restraining  and  consoling  power,  alike  in  temptation  and  grief," 
&c. 

But  eloquent  eulogies  were  not  wanting  from  ministers  of  some 
of  the  other  churches,  usually  called  in  New  England,  by  way 
of  distinction  from  the  Unitarian,  '« orthodox,"  some  of  which 
displayed  at  once  the  intensity  and  liberality  of  sectarian  feeling 
in  this  country.  They  did  homage  to  his  talents  and  the  upright- 
ness of  his  conduct,  and  they  dealt  with  his  theological  opinions  in 
the  spirit  of  Dryden's  beautiful  lines  :. 

"  The  soul  of  Arcite  went  where  heathens  go, 
Who  better  live  than  we,  though  less  they  know." 

I  will  extract,  from  one  of  the  most  favorable  of  these  effiisions, 
the  following  passage  :~-. 

'  "  Judge  Story  was  a  Christian  who  professed  a  firm  belief  in 
the  Bible  as  a  revelation  from  God.  He  was  a  Unitarian ;  but 
if  he  reposed  in  the  divine  mercy  through  the  mediation  of 
Christ,  and  if  he  came  with  the  temper  of  a  child  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, I  have  nq  doubt  he  has  been  received  of  Him  to  whom,  in 
his  last  words,  he  committed  himself  in  prayer ;  and,  had  he  been 
more  orthodox  in  his  creed  without  the  Christian  spirit  and  the 
Christian  life,  his  orthodoxy  would  not  have  saved  him."  ^ 
^^■P^- ^9t~Early  in  the  motning  of  the  fifteenth  day  from 
"J^r**v^^^wrci^r®ll^W^e^p^SeWCj^^ 


'^r4 


.±J^'%£.^jt'  - 


fpyTF^i"^ 


■ 


84 


SEVERE  FROST  AT  BOSTON. 


[Orap.  L 


fr  ^  > 


Annp,  and  a  small  and  gayly  painted  green  schooner,.in  iuU  sail, 
and  scudding  rapidly  through  the  water,  brought  us  a  pilot.  In 
.a  few  hours'  the  long  line  of  coast  became  more  and  more  distinct, 
till  Salem,  Nahant,  Lynn,  the  harbor  of  Boston  and  its  islands, 
and  at  last  the  dome  of  the  State  House,  croWing  the  highest 
eminence,  came  full  into  view.  To  u6  the  most  novel  feature  in 
the  architecmiral  aspect  of  the  city,  was  the  Bunker  Hill  Monu- 
merit,  which  had  been  erected  since  1842  ;  the  foiin  of  which, 
as  it  resembles  an  Egyptian  obelisk,  and  possibly  because  I  had 
seen  that  form  imitated  in  some  of  our  fall  factory  chimneys,  gave 
me  no  pleasure. 

After  the  cloudy  and  stormy  weather  we  had  encountered  in 
the  Atlantic,  and  the  ice  and  fogs  seen  near  the  great  banks,  we 
were  delighted  with  the  clear  atmosphere  and  bright  sunshine  of 
Boston,  and  heard  with  surprise  of  the  intense  heat  of  the  sum- 
mer, of  which  many  persons  had  lately  died,  especially  in  New 
York.  The  ext^jBmes,  indeed,  of  heat  and  cold  in  this  country, 
are  truly  remarkable.  Looking  into  the  windows  of  a  print 
shop,  I  saw  an  engraving  of  our  good  ship,  the  Britannia,  which 
we  had  just  quitted,  represented  as  in  the  act  of  forcinff  her  way 
through  the  ice  of  Boston  harbor  in  the' winter  of  1844— a  truly 
arctic  scene.  A'  fellow  passenger,  a  merchanrt  from  New  York, 
where  they  are  jealous  of  the  monopoly  hitherto  enjoyed  by  their 
New  England  rival,  of  a  direct  and  regular  steam  communica- 
tion with  Europe,  remarked  to  me  that  if  the  people  of  Boston 
had  been  wise,  they  would  never  have  encduraged  the  publication 
of  this  print,  as  it  was  a  clear  proof  that  the  British  government 
should  rather  have  selected  New  York,  where  the  sea  never 
freezes,  as  the  fittest  port  for  the  mail  packets.  I  had  heard 
mu6h  during  the  voyage  of  this  strange  adventure  of  the  BHtan- 
nia  in  the  ice.  Last  winter  it  .appears  thereKhad  been  a  frost  of 
unusual  intensity,  such  as  had  not  been,  known  for  more  than  half 
a  century,  which  caused  the  sea  to  be  frozen  over  in  the  harbor 
of  Boston,  although  the  water  is  as  salt  there  as-  in  mid-ocean. 
Moreover,  the  tide  runs  there  at  the  rate  of  four  or  five  miles  an 
hour,  rising  twelve  feet,  and  causing  the  whole  body  of  the  ice  to 
be  uphfted  and  let  down  again  to  that  amount  twice  every  twen- 


OaAP.  I.] 


SEVEBB  FROST  AT  BOSTON. 


25 


ty-four  hours.  Notwithstanding  this  movement,  the  surface  w- 
mamed  even  md  unbroken,  except  along  the  shore,  where  it 
oracKed.  *  * 

^  ^  fla4  the  continuance  of  this  fr;ost  been  ai^ticipated,  it  would 
have  been  easy  to^eep  open  a  ^^^^tg^  but  on  the  1st  of  Feb- 
rawy  when  the  Bntannia  was  appointed  to >il.  it  was  founds 
that  the  ice  wa»  seven  feet  tiick  i^  the  whW.  an^^o  feet 
thick  for  a  distance  bf  seven  miles,  out ;  so  that  wagons  and  carts 
were  conveying  cotton  and  other  freighte  from  the  shore  to  the 
edge  of  the  ice.  where  ships  were  taking  in  their  cargoes.  No 
sooner  was  it  understood  thit  the  mall  was  imprisoned,  than  the 
public  spint  of  the  whole  city  was  roused,  and  a  large  sum  of 

and  100  feet  wide,  throiyh  the  ice.     They  began  the  *perati£ 
by  making  two  straight  furrows^^men  inches  deep,  with^  ice 
pWh  drawn  by  horses,  and  then  sawed  the  ice  into  square 
sheets,  each  1  Op  feei^^n  diameter.     When  these  were  detached, 
they  jere  made  to  slide,  by  means  of  iron  hooks  and  ropes  fixed 
to  them  under  the  great  body  of  the  ice.  one  edge  being  first 
depressed  and  the  ropes  being  pulled  by  a  team  of  horsS.  and 
occasionally  by  a  body  of  fifty  men.     On  the  3d  of  February.  ^ 
only  two  days  after  her  time,  the  steamer  saileci^out.  breakiilg 
^rough  a  newly-formed  sh^et  of  ice.  two  inches  thick,  her  W 
being  fortified  with  iron  to  protect  her  copper  Sheeting.     She 
burst  through  the  ipe  at  the  rate  of  seven  miles  an  hourwithout 
much  damage  tp  her.paddles ;  but  before  she  3va»  in  clelr  water, 
all  her  guard  ofiron  had  b^n  torn  ofi:     An  eye-witness  of  L 
scene  told  me  that  tents  had  been  pitched  on  the  ice.  theii  <^y. 

'^  1 1??     ^f  f  '"^'''  "^^  *-  ^^"^^^'^^  ^'f  i»««Pl«  Allowed 
and  cheered  for  the  first  mile,  some  in  sleighs,  olheJs  in  saihng 

Doats  fitted  up  wrth  long  blades  ofiron.  like  skates,  by  meaT^,. 
which  they  are  urged  rapfdly  along  hy  their  sails,  not  only  befor* 
the  wina  b^t  even  with  a  side  wind,  tacking  and  beating  ^ 
^windward  as  if  they  were  in  the  water.  ^      . 

liftl^^/"*^'^'?'  "^^^^^  from  her  b6^d8.  reached  Liverpbol  in 
Sfteen  days,  so  that  no  alarm  had  been  occasioned  by  th.  H^gfy. 


^^frherThe^JJritish  Post-Office^  department  ofiered  tolefr^ 

VOL.  I.— ^B     .  .    •    ^      s  ^ 


~^F' 


>' 


si        1  -a 


■'»:    \ 


Ji 


iX 


^  ■''■• 


M-^OUSI  OFFICERS. 


[Ohav.  1. 


m^mmJmmnmiifitfrmm 


the  tapenae  of  the  ice-chwmel,  the  citizens  of  Boston  declined  to 
"be  reirabuTMd. 

Wi  'w%re  liot  detained  more  than  an  hour  in  the  Custom- 
house, &lih0ai;h  the  number  of  our  packages  was  great.  In  that 
hour  the  T^mpnf^'^  which  had  come  out  with  us  had  been  so  ^ 
rapidly  distributed,  4li|it  our  carriage  was  assailed  in  the  streets 
l^  H  host  of  vociferous  boys,  calling  out,  "  Fifteen  days  later 
from  Europe"-^'*  The  Times  and  Funch  just  received  by  the 
Britannia."  In  the  course  of  my  travel^  in  the  United  States  I 
heard  American  politicians  complaining  of  the  frequent  change 
of  officials,  high  and  low,  as  often  as  a  new  pHrty  comes  into 
power.^  -In  spite  of  this  practice,- however,  the.  "Custom-house 
officers,  greatly  to  the  comfort  of  the  public,  belong  to  a  higher 
grade  of  society  than  those  at  Liverpool  and  our  principal  ports. 
I  asked  a^New  England  ft-iend,  who  ^ras  well  acquainted  with 
the  "  Old  Coujutry,"  whether  the  subordinates,  here  are  more 
highly  paid  ?  "  By  no  means,"  he  replied.  "  The  difierence, 
then,"  said  I,  "must  be  owing  to  th^  better  .education  given  to 
all  in  your  public  schools  ?"  "  Pethaps,  in  some  degree," .  he 
rejoined ;  "  but  far  more  to  the  pecuHar||p|pbf  our  institutions. 
Ilecent  examples  ate  not  granting  of  meii  who  have  passed  in  a 
few  years  from  the  chief  place  in  one  of  bur  great  Ciistom-houses 
to  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet  or  an  appointment  as  embassador  to  a 
first-rate  European, power ;  but,  what  is  far  more  to  the  point, 
men  who  are  unsuccessful  at  the  bar  or  the  church,  often  aocept 
inferior  stations  in  the  Custoi^chouse  and  other  public. offices 
without  lossi^^'Bociid  position."  This  explanation  led  me  to 
reflect  how  much  the  British  public  might  gain  if  a- multitude 
of  the  smaller  places  in  the  public  service  bX  home,  now  slig 
by  aristocratic  prejudices  as  ungenteel,  wer^lHled  by  those 
men  who,  «aft;er  being  highly  educated  at  Eton  and  other 
schools,  lead  now. 'a  pastoral  life  in  Australia,  or  spend  theii'  best 
days  in  exile  fs^t&om  their  i^ind^ed  and  native  land,  as  soldiers 
or  sailors,  wif 


■< . 


?^:vf'^:v• 


i-  % 

■}>■• 

4,^ . 

.  *• 

CHAPTER  11. 

Bo«ton.--Hortip^«ri|  Show  in  Faneuil  HaU.— Review  of  Militia— Peace 
T^^SaPSfeSSr^'*  *°  'J'^  ^"^''^  Mountains—Railway  Traveli^ 
V^^!X&^W^'''T'^'^-'~^'^^°^*  FossUs  in  Prift.— Submarine 
J-oresMPWHW  Plants  :   Asters,   Solidagos,  Poison  Ivy. —Swallows. — 
r-i^.K..   ;.  i:*"  ''•T^°°?'  transported  by  Antarctic  Ice— Body  of  a  Whale 
I     <Mij«»<J  Van 'A.mencan  Trader  in  an  Icebergv^  '  ■     " 

J^Eat  prbgress  has  been  made  in  beautifying  the  city  of 
BoBton-by  new  pubUe  buildings  in  the  three  years  since  we  were 
last  here.  Several  of  these  are  constructed  of  granite,  in  a  hahd- 
some^styk  of  architecture.  The  «te  of  the  town  is  almost  an 
isluid,  which  has  been  united  to  the  main  land  by  long  mounds, 
which  are  begiipung  to  radiate  in  all  directions,  except  the  east, 
Me  the  spokes'bf  a  wheel.  Railway  trains  are  se6n  colltinuaUy 
flymg  to  ai»d  fro  along  these  narrow  causeways  at  all  hours  d 
the  day^  ^ 

6n  the  ey^ning  of  our  arrival^e  went  to  a  horticultural  show 
of  fruit  and  flowers  in  Faneml-HaU,  where  we  found  a  large 
assembly  of  both  sexes  enjoying  a  "  temperance  feast,"  a.  band  of 
music  m  the  gallery,  and  tHe  table  spread  with  cakes,,  fruit,  ices, 
tea.  milk,  and  whey.  I  was  glad  tb  observe,  what  I  am  told  • 
however,  is  an  innovation  here,  that  the  ladies,  instead  of  merely 
looking  on  from  a  gallery  to  see  the  gentlemen  eat,  wok,  sitting 
at  teble  m  ttie  body  of  the  hall,  and  listening  to  some  of  the  firrt 

fi^WJ«nd  late  fellow-yoyager  m  the  Britalmia,  Edward  Everett.  ' 
whose  r^eption,  on  his  return  from  his  embassy  to  England,  was 
most  enthusiastic.  He  said,  «  he  had  been  so  lately  Lkbig^ 
tiie  Atlantic  whose  luUaby  was  not  always  of  the  gentiest,lhat 
he  ™^hardly  fit  for  a  rocking  in  « the  old  cradle  of  Lib;r|r 
aiid  felt  almost  unconsciously  inclined  to  catch  at  the  table  to 
jteacty^hims^f;  expting  ta„4H«i^b«» ^owe«^  and^^^^^ 


^way  in  ^  lee^urcL     Even  tfaA  .pillars  of  old  Paa 


le^^ail, 


#- 


'^*   ■  ' 


J'p 


REVIEW  O^  iiltlTtk. 


[Chap.  II. 


^ich  are  not  ofte^  found  out  of  tfie  true  plumb-line,,  seemed  to 
reel  oter  his  head.'"  *  v  ,.    » 

Allusion  was  here  riikiie  to  this  Hall  having  been  the  place  of 
large  popular  meetings  before  1775,  where  American  patriotism 
was  first  roused  to  make  a  stand  against  the  claims  of  the  mother- 
country  to  impose  taxes  without  consent  of  the  provincial  legis- 
lature. In  later  days,  th«  building  being  under  the  control  of 
the  city  authorities,  and  the  .Whigs  being  usually  in  the  ascendant 
here,  the  moderate  party  have  almost  always  obtained  possession 
of  the  Hall.      ■  , 

Sept.  23. — From  the  windows  of  a  friend's  house,  opening  on 
the  Common,  we  havo^a  fulj  view  of  what  is  called  the  "  Fall 
•Parade,"  or  autumnal  review  of  the  Boston  militia,  cavalry  and 
infantry,  which  has  lasted  all  day,  ending  with  a  sham  fight  and 
much  firing  of  cannon.  Not  that  there  is  any  excess  of  military/ 
fervor  in  this  State,  as  in  some  others  at  the  present  moment ; 
on  the  contrary,  a  numerous  and  increasing  Peace  Association  is 
distributing,  gratis,  many  thousand  copies  of  a  recent  Fourth-of- 
July  oration  against  war  and  military  establishments,  delivered 
by  Mr.  Charles  Sumner.  I  was  asked  by  a  young  friend  here, 
in  fuW  uniform,  whether  I  did  not  think  "  Independence-day"  (an 
anniversary  when  all  who  have  a  regimental  costume  are  accus- 
tomedf  to  wear  it);*' a  most  inappropriate  time  for  sUch  an  effusion, 
in  which  non-resistance  principles  bordering  on  Quakerism  had 
been  avowed  ;.  the  orator  asking,  among  other  questions,  «« What 
is  the  use  of  the  militia  of  the  United  States  ?"  and  going  f^  far 
as  Channing  in  pronouncing  war  to  be  unchristian. 

I^ehaembered  having  once  admired  the  present  Bishop  of  St. 
Asaph  for  choosing  a  certain  day,  set  apart  by  the  English 
Church  for  commemorating  the  «'  conspiracy,  malicious  practices, 
and  Popish  tyranny  of  the  Romanists,"  for  preaching  a  sermon 
on  religious  toleration ;  and  I  therefore  felt  some  hesitation  in 
condemning  the  opportunity  seized  upon  by  an  enthusiast  of  the 
peace  ^arty  for  propagating  his  views. 

"  There  is  a  soul  of  goodness  in  things  evil 
Would  men  observingly  distill  it  out." 

^0  lOT[g  as  the  War  oTIndependence  lastecT,  I  can  understand 


■'fi'f^t 


- 11 


Chap.  II.] 


PEACE  ASSOCIATION. 


the  policy  of  annually  reading  out  to  the  assembled  multitude  the 
celebrated  "Declaration,"  setting  forth  the  injuries  inflicted  by 
Orreat  Britam,  her  usurpations  previous  to  the  year  1776   "her 
design  to  reduce  the  Americans  to  a  state  of  absolute  dependence 
by  #iartei^^g  armed  troops  upon  the  people— refusing  to  make 
the  judges  independent  of  the  crown— imposing  taxes  without 
consent  of  the  colonies— depriving  them  of  trial  by  jury— some- 
times suspending  their  legislatures— waging  war   against   the 
colomes,  and  transporting  to  their  shores  large  armies  of  foreign 
mercenaries   to   complete  the   work   of  .death,   desolation,   and 
tyranny  already  begun,  with  circumstances  of  cruelty  and  perfidv 
scarcely  paralleled  in  the  most  barbarous  ages-exciting  domestic 
insurrections— bringing  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  frontiers  the 
merciless  Indian  savages,  whose  known  rule  of  warfare  is  the 
destruction  of  all  ages,  sexes,  and  conditions,"  &c.,'&c 

All  this  recital  may  have  been  expedient  when  the  great 
struggle  for  liberty  and  national  existence  was  still  pending     but 
what  effect  can  it  have  now,  but  to  keep  alive  bad  feelings,  and 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  what  should  nearly  be  forgotten ^     In 
many  of  the  newer  States  the  majority  of  the  entire  population 
have  either  themselves  come  out  from  the  British  Isles  as  new 
settlers,  or  are  the  children  or  grandchildren  of  men  who  emi- 
grated  since  the  "  Declaration"  was  drawn  up.      If.  therefore, 
they  pour  out  in  schools,  or  at  Fourth-qf- July  meetings,  declama- 
tory  and  warlike  speeches  against   the   English  oppressors  of 
America   their  words  are  uttered  by  parricidal  lips,  for  they  are 
the  hereditary  representatives,  not  of  the  aggrieved  party,  but  of 
the  aggressors.  -r     /> 

To  many  the  Peace  Associations  appear  to  aim  at  objects  as 
Utopian  and  hopeless  as  did  the  Temperance  Societies  to  the 
generation  which  is  now  passing  away.  The  cessation  of  war 
«eems  as  unattainable  as  did  the  total  abstinence  from  intoxicating* 
hquors.  But  we  have  seen  a  great  moral  reform  bi^ught  about, 
m  many  populous  districts,  mainly  by  combined  efforts,  of  weU- 
twT ll'^!!!!  ^.",^!'^?"^^g^  intemperance^  and  we  may  hope 
^v  «r«^r^^T*^  ^^*^"'''^  nations  may  be  ffiitTgafed  a!  leasT^ 
by  BimUar  exertions.     -In  the  harbor  of  Boston."  says  Mr. 


J. 


-^.s-  .i'i-sl.a-.,- 


so 


ENVIRONS  OF  BOSTON. 


[Chap.  IL 


Sumn«jr,  « the  Ohio,  a  ship  of  the  line,  of  ninety  guns,  is  now 
/^swinging  idly  at  her  moorings.     She  costs  as  much  annually  to 
mamtain  her  in  service,  in  salaries,  wages,  and  provisions,  as  four 
;  Harvard  Universities."     He  might  have  gone  on  to  calculate 
;,  how  many  primary  schools  might  be  maintained  by  the  disband- 
ing of  single  regirnents,  or  the  paying  off  of  single  ships,  of  those 
^  vast  standing  armies  and  navies  now  kept  up  in  so  many  coun- 
*  ta^  in  Europe.      How  mucJh  ignoMdce;  bigotry,  and  savage 
barbarism  m  the  lower  classes  might  be  prevented  by  employing 
in  education  a  smaU  part  of  the  revenues  required  to  maintain 
this  state  of  armed  peace  ! 

S^.  22 — ^At  this  season  the  wealthier  inhabitants  of  Boston 
are  absent  at  watering-places  in  the  hills,  where  th'ere  are  mine- 
ral springs,  or  at  the  sea-side.  Some  of  them  in  their  country 
viUas,  where  we  Visited  several  friends  in  the  neighborhood.  The 
environs  of  Boston  are  very  agreeable  ;  woods  and  hills,  and  bare 
rocks,  and  small  Ikkes,  and  estuaries  running  far  into  the  land, 
and  lanes  with  hedges,  and  abundance  of  wUd  flowers.  The 
exteeme  heat  of  summer  does  not  allow  of  the  green  meadowi 
and  verdant  lawns  of  England,  but  there  are  some  weU-kept* 
gardens  her^— «  ^costly  luxury  where  the  wages  of  labor  are  so 
high.  f^ 

Sept.  24 — I  had  determined  before  the  autumn  was  over  to 
make  an  excursion  to  the  White  Mountains  of  New  Hampshire, 
which,  with  the  exception  of  those  in  part  of  the  AUeghany 
range  m  North  Carolina,  are  the  loftiest  east  of  the  Mississippi 
Accordingly,  I  set  off  with  my  wife  on  the  railway  for  Ports^ 
mouth,  fifty-four  miles  north  of  Boston,  which  we  reached  in  two 
hours  and  three  quarters,  having  stopped  at  several  intervening 
places,  and  going  usually  at  the  rate  of  twenty  miles  an  hour 
mere  were  about  eighty  passengers  in  the  train,  forty  of  whom 
were  m  the  same  carriage  as  ourselves.  "  The  car,"  in  shape 
like  a  long  omnibus,  has  a  passage  down  the  middle,  sometimes 
called  "  the  aisle,"  on  the  back  part  of  which  the  seats  are  ranged 
transversely  to  the  length  of  the  apartment,  which  is  high  enough 
to  aUow  a  tall  man  to  walk  in  it  with  his  hat  on.  Each  seat 
aom  two  pftpf^na,  ani  in  wcU-cughionod  and  :ft 


I! 


are  mine- 


Chap.  II.] 


RAILWAY  TRAVBLINO. 


91 


wooden  back  ingeniously  contrived,  so  as  to  turn  and  permit  the 
traveler  to  face  either  way,  as  he  may  choose  to  converse  with 
any  acquaintance  who  may  be  sitting  before  or  behind  him. 
The  long  row  of  windows  on  each  side  affords  a  good  view  of 
the  country,  of  which  _more  is  thus  seen  than  on  our  English 
railYoads.  The  trains,  moreover,  pass  frequently  through  the 
streets  of  villages  and  towns,  many  of  which  have  sprung  up 
since  the  construction  of  the  railway.  The  conductor  passes 
freely  through  the  passage  in  the  center^  and  from  one  car  to 
another,  examining  tickets  and  receiving  payment,  soVs  to  pre- 
vent any  delay  at  the  stations. 

If  we  desire  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  relative  accommoda- 
tionifc^vantages,  comforts,  and  cost  of  the  journey  in  one  of  these 
ruill^s  as  compared  with  those  of  England,  we  must  begin  by 
^M^P^S  all  our  first,  second,  and  third-class  passengers  thrown 
liitd  one  set  of  carriages,  and  we  shall  then  be  astonished  at  the 
ease  and  style  with  which  the  tiiillions  travel  in  the  United 
States.  The  charge  for  the  distance  of  fifty-four  miles,  from 
Boston  to  Portsmouth,  was  1\  dollar  each,  or  6s.  4d.  English, 
which  was  just  half  what  we  had  paid  three  weeks  before  for 
first-class  places  on  our  journey  firom  London  to  Liverpool 
(2/.  10s.  for  210  miles),  the  speed  being  in  both  oases  the  same. 
Here  there  is  the  want  of  privacy  enjoyed  in  an  English  first- 
dass  carriage,  and  the  seats,  though  excellent,  are  less  luxurious. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  power  of  standing  upright  when  tired  of 
the  sitting  posture  is  not  to  be  despised,  especially  on  a  long 
journey,  and  the  open  view  right  and  left  from  a  whole  line  of 
windows  is  no  small  gain.  But  when  we  come  to  the  British 
second  and  third-class  vehicles,  cushionless,  dark,  and  if  it  happen 
to  rain,  sometimes  closed  up  with  wooden  shutters,  and  contrast 
them  with  the  cars  of  Massachusetts,  and  still  more  the  average 
appearance,  dress,  and  manners  of  the  inmates,  the  wide  differ- 
ence is  indeed  remarkable;  at  the  same  time,  the  price  which 
the  humblest  class  here  can  afford  to  pay  proves  how  muoh 
higher  must  be  the  standard  of  wages  than  with  us. 

On  ■tarting,  we  h»d  first  to  cross  the  harboi^of  Boston  im  a 
Urge  ferrj^boat,  where,  to  economize  time,  there  is  a  bar  with 


■*/ 


MA 


PORTSMOUTH,  NB\V>  HAMPSHIRE.  [Chaf.  U. 


•MteMil 


refreahments,  so  that  you  may  breakfast ;  or,  if  you  please,  buy 
newspapers,  or  pamphlets,  or  novels.  We  then  flew  over  jrails, 
supported  on  long  lines  of  wooden  piles,  following  the  coast,  and 
having  often  the  sea  on  one  side,'  and  fre^h-water  lakes,  several 

.  miles  long,  or  salt  marshes,  on  the  other.  -Ift  some  of  the 
marshes  we  saw  large  haycocks  on  piles,  waiting  till  the  winter, 
when,  the  mud  and  water  being  firmly  frozen,  the  crop  can  be 
earned  in.  We  were  soon  at  Lyim,  a  village  of  shoemakers, 
exportmg  shoes  to  distant  parts  of  the  Union;  and  ntot  went 
through  the  center  of  the  town  of  Salem,  partly  in  a  tunnel  in 
the  main  street ;  then  proceeded  to  Ipswich,  leaving  on  our  left 
Wenham  Lake,  and  seeing  from  the  road  the  wooden  houses  in 
which  great  stores  of  ice  are  prese»»red.  In  some  of  the  low 
grounds  I  saw  peat  cut,  and  laid  out  to  dry  for  fuel.  We 
crossed  the  river  Merrimack  near  its  mouth,  on  a  bridge  of  great 
length,  supported  by  piles,  and  then  entered  New  Hampshire 
soon  commg  to  the  first  town  of  that  state,  called  Portsmouth' 
which  has  a  population  of  8000  souls,  and  was  once  the  resi- 

^  dence  of  the  colonial  governor.  Here  I  made  a  short  stay,  pass- 
ing the  evening  at  the  house  of  Mr.  J.  L.  Hayes,  to  whom  we 
had  letters  of  introduction,  where  we  found  a  gay  party  assem- 
bled, and  dancing.\ 

Next  morning  I  set  out  on  an  excursion  with  Mr.  Hayes,  to 
explore  the  geological  features  of  the  neighborhood  which  a^e 
with  those  of  the  eastern  coast  generally  throughout  Massachu- 
setts, and  a  great  part  of  Main*— a  low  region  of  granitic  rocks 
overspread  with  heaps  of  sand  and  gravel,  or  with  clay,  and 
here  and  there  an  erratic  or  huge  block  of  stone,  transported 
from  a  distance,  and  always  from  the  north.  Lakes  and  ponds 
numerous,  as  in  the  country  of  similar  geological  composition  in 
the  south  of  Norway  and  Sweden.  Here,  also,  as  in  Scandina- 
via, the  overlying  patches  of  clay  and  gravel  often  contain  marine 
fossU  shelU  of  species  still  living  in  the  Arctic  Seas,  and  belong- 
ing to  the  genera  Saxicava,  Astarte,  Cardium,  Nucida,  and 
others,  the  same  which  occur  in  whlit  we  call  the  northern  drift 
of  Ireland  and  ScoUand.  Some  of  the  concretions  of  fine  clay. 
r.ii..i.  JL.  \^.     1  -^T  i^ffiln "TTew^Bi^prfiii©^  in  tlui 


Ohap.  n.] 


y^ 


GBOI^f. 


-f-^" 


^iittAkMiiMAMMi 


83 

---'-'f  f'^^f 

"drift"  on  the  Saco  river,  thirty  miles  to  the  north  of  Ports- 
mouth, contain  the  entire  skeletons  of  a  fossil  fish  of  the  same 
species  as  one  now  living  in  the  Northern  Seas,  called  the  cape- 
Ian  (^MallotMS  villosies),  ahout  the  size  of  a  sprat,  and  sold  abun- 
dantly in  the  Lendon  markets,  salted  and  dried  like  herrings.  I 
obtained  some  of  these  fossils,  which,  like  the  associated  shells, 
show  that  a  colder  climate  than  that  now.  prevailing  in  this,  re- 
gion was  established  in  what  is  termed  "the  glacial  period." 
Mr.  Hayes  took  me  to  Kittery,  and  other  localities,  where  these 
marine  organic  remains  abound  in  the  superficial  deposits  Some 
of  the  shells  are  met  with  in  the  town  of  Portsmouth  itself,  in 
digging  the  foundation  of  houses  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river 
Piscataqua.  This  was  the  most  southern  spot  (lai  43°  6'  N.) 
to  which  I  yet  had  traced  the  fossil  fauna  of  the  boulder  period, 
retaining  here,  as  in  Canada,  its  peculiar  northern  characters, 
consisting  of  A  profusion  of .  individuals,  but  a  small-  number  of 
species  ;  and  k  great  many  of  those  now  abounding  in  the  neigh- 
boring sea  being  entirely  absent.  It  is  only  farther  to  the  south, 
and  near  the  extreme  southern  limit  of  the  drift,  or  boulder  clay, 
as  at  Brooklyn,  in  Long  Inland,  for  example,  that  a  mixture  of 
more  southern  species  of  shells  begin  to  appear,  just  as  Professor 
E.  Forbes  has  detected,  in  the  drift  of  the  south  of  Ireland,  the 
meeting  of  a  Mediterranean  and  Arctic  fauna. 

Every  where  around  Portsmouth  I  observed  that  superficial 
polish  in  the  rocks,  and  those  long,  straight  grooves  or  furrows, 
which  I  before  alluded  to  (p.  1 8),  as  having  been  imprinted  by 
icebergs  on  the  ancient  floor  of  the  ocean.  By  the  inland  posi- 
tion of  these  fossil  shells  of  recent  species,  the  geologist  can  prove 
that,  at  times  comparatively  modern  in  the  earth's  history,  the 
larger  part  of  New  England  B.xtd  Canada  lay  for  ages  beneath 
the  waters  of  the  sea,  Lake  Champlain  and  the  valley  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  being  then  gulfs,  and  the  White  Mountains  an 
island.*  But  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  we  also  discover  along  this 
same  eastern  coast  signa  no  less  unequivocal  of  partial  subsidence 
of  land  at  a  period  still  more  recent.  The  evidence  consists  of 
''^'*^«>J^JBiL.Powgw^m<^rgftd^ft^^  roof  and- 


♦  See  my  "Travels  in  N.  America,  1841-2,"  vol.  ii.  p.  142 


B* 


/ 


'^u 


34 


?%*!S»lTE%i^^^7V5 


SUBMARINE  FOREST. 


[Chap.  II. 


upright  stools  of  the  white  cedar  {Cupresms  thyaides),  showing 
that  an  ancient  forest  must  once  have  extended  farther  seaward. 
One  of  these  swamps  we  passed  yesterday  at  Hampton,  on  the 
way  from  Boston  to  Portsmouth;  and  Mr.  Hayes  gave  me  speci- 
men^ of  the  submarine  wood  in  as  fresh  a  statf)  «s  any  occurring 
a  few  yards  deep  in  a  British  peat-hog.  ^ 

That  some  of  these  repositories  of  buried  trees,  though  geolo- 
gically of  the  most  modern  date,  may  really  be  of  high  antiquity, 
considered  with  reference  to  the  history  of  man,  I  hav^  no  douk; 
and  geologists  may,  by  repeated' observations,  ascertain  the  min-, 
_  immn  of  time  required  for  their  .formation  previously  to  their  fiub-~ 
mergence. '    Some  extensive  cedar-swamps,  for  example,  of  the 
same  class  occur  on  the  coast  near  Cape  May,  in  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  on  the  east  side  of  Dela- 
>ware  Bay,  filled  with'  trees  to  an  unknown  depth  j  and  it  is  a 
constant  busin^^  to  probe  the  soft  mud  of  the  swamp  with  poles 
for  the  purpose  of  discovering  the  timber.     When  a  log  is  found, 
thft  mud  is  cleared  off,  ,and  the  log  sawed  up  into  proper  lengths 
for  shingles  or  boards.     The  stumps  of  trees,  from  four  to  five 
feet,  and  obcasionally  six  feet  in  diameter,  are  found  standing 
with  their  roots  in  the  place  in  which  jthey  grew,  and  the  trunks 
of  aged  cedars  are  met  with  in  every  possible  position,  some  of 
them  lying  horiisontally  unller  the  roots  of  the  upright  stumps. 
Dr.  Bresley,  of  Dennis  Creek,  counted   lO&O  rings  of  annual 
growth  between  the  center  and  outside  of  a  large  stump  six  feet 
in  diame^ter,  and  under  it  lay  a  prostrate  tree,  which  had  fallen 
and  been  buried  before  the  tree  to  which  the  stump  belonged  first 
sprouted.     This  lower  trunk  was  ^ve  hundred  years  old,  so  that 
upwa^  of  fifteen  centuries  were  thus  determined,  beyond  thei 
Shadow  of  a  doubt,  as  the  age  of  one  small  portion  of  a  bog,  the 
depth  of  which  is  as  yet  unknown. 

^Mr.  Hayes  drove  me  in  his  carriage  through  wopds  of  fir  on 
both  banks  of  the  Piscataqua,  where  the  ground  was  covered 
with  that  fragrant  shrub,  the  candleberry  [Myrica  cmifera)i  the 
wax  of  which,  derived  from  its  shining  brack  berries,  is  used  for 
making  candles.  The  odor  of  its  leave^resembles  that  of  our  " 
iyrtte  ( JKyrwa  ytfe).     Tkw  burberly, utio  {Merttensv^^ 


,  *  'i  ,:i>.Ai.L. 


«iMii 


Ohap.  It] 


WILD  PLANTS.— SWALLOWS. 


35 


garis),  although  not  an  indigenous  plant,  is  veiy  abundant  and 
ornamental  in  the  woods  here.     It  has  overrun,  in  modem  times, 
the  eastern  shores  of  New  England,  and  made  its  way  many 
miles  inland,  to  the  great  lumoyance  of  the  agriculturists.     Some 
naturalists  wonder  how  it  can  spread  so  fast,  as  the  America 
birds  refuse,  like  the  European  ones,  to  feed  on  its  red  berries : 
but  if  it  be  true  that  cattle,  sheep,  and  goa^ts  occasionally  browse 
on  this  shrub,  there  is  no  mystery  about  the  mode  of  its  migration, 
for  the  seeds  may  be  sown  in  their  dung.     The  aromatic  shrub 
called  sweet  fern  {Gamptoma  €isplenifolia),{onDB  nearly  as  large 
a  proportion  of  the  undergrowth  here  as  does  the  real  fern  (Pteris) 
in  some  of  our  English  forests.     I  have  seen  this  part  of  North 
America  laid  down  in  some  botanical  maps  as  the  region  of  asters 
and  solidagos  ;  aiid  certainly  the  variety  and  abundance  of  golden 
rods  and  asters  is  at  this  season  very  striking,  although  a  white 
everlasting  (Gnafalium)  is  ahnost  equally  conspicuous.     Among 
other  shrubs,  I  saw  the  poison-ivy  {Rhus  radicam),  a  species  of 
Bumkch,  growing  on  rocks  and  walk.     It  has  no  effect  on  some 
people,  but  the  slightest  touch  causes  an  eruption  on  the  skin  of 
others.     A  New  England  botanist  once  told  me  that,  by  way 
of  experiment,  he  rubbed  his  arm  with  the  leaves,  and  they  gave 
rise  to  a  painful  swelling,  which  was  long  in  subsiding. 

In  Mr.  Hayes's  garden  at  Portsmouth  were  some  of  the  smaller 
white-bodied  swallows  or  martins  {Hinmdo  .viridis),  protected 
from  their  enemy,  the  larger  martin  {Hirundo  purpurea),  by 
having  small  holes  made  for  them  in  flower-pots,  which  the 
others  could  not  pass  through.  The  larger  kind,  or  house-martin, 
18  encouraged  every  where,  small  wooden  boxes  beiug  made  for 
thAn  on  rocrfs  or  on  the  tops  of  poles,  resembling  pigeon-houses, 
which  may  often  be  seen  on  the  top  of  a  sign-post  before  a  New 
England  inn.  They  are  useful  in  chasing  away  birds  of  prey 
from  the  poultry-yard ;  and  I  once  saw  a  few  of  them  attacking 
a  large  hawk.  But  I  suspect  they  are  chiefly  favored  for  mere 
amusement  sake,  and  welcomed,  like  our  swallows,  as  the  mes- 
pengers  of  spring,  on  their  annual  return  from  the  south.  It  is 
P^^^g  ^Q  hpar  them  chattering  withja^di  other,  and  to  mark  ^ 
"**™"^iepair^rms  aMlHiE^lil«BK^uiiiage7  oFto^^  w^       them 


v^WiN^ 


-^> 


36 


W^fW 


GLACIAL  GROOVES. 


A^ 


t+- 


ivm^u 


on  the  wing,  floating  gently  in  the  air,  or  darting  rapidly  after 
insects.  Thbusands  of  these  birds,  with  their  ybung,  died  in 
their  nests  in  the  spring  of  1836,  during  a  storm  of  cold  rajn, 
which  lasted  two  ^eeks,  and  destroyed  the  insects  throughout 
the  states  of  New  York  and  New  England.  The  smaller  species 
{HiTundo  viridis)  then  regained  possession  of  their  old  haunts, 
occupying  the  deserted  houses  of  the  more  powerful  species,  which, 
^  like  the  house-sparrow  in  Europe,  has  followed  the  residence  of, 
man. 

>  The  sun  was  very  powerfid  at  noon  \  but  the  severity  of  the 
cold  here  in  winter  is  so  great,  that  a  singular  effect  is  produced 
in  the  Piscataqua  when  the  thermometer  sinks  to  15°  below  zero. 
The  tide  pours  into  the  estuary  a  large  body  of  salt  water  par- 
taking of  the  warmer  temperature  of  the  gulf  stream,  and  this 
water,  coming  into  the  colder  atmosphere,  smokes  like  a  thermal 
spring,  giving  rise*  to  dense  fogs. 

,1  had  been  desirous  of  making  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Hayes, 
in  consequence  of  having  read,  before  I  left  England,  an  excellent 
paper  published  by  him  in  the  Boston  Journal  of  Natural  History, 
for  1844,  on  the  Antarctic  Icebergs,  considered  as  explanatory 
of  the  transportation  of  rocky  masses,  and  of  those  polished  rocks 
and  glacial  ^ooves  and  striae  before  alluded  to.  He  had  derived 
his  information  from  experienced  men  engaged  in  the  southern 
Whale  fisheries,  principally  merchants  of  New  Bedford,  Massa- 
chusetts,, and  Stonington,  Rhode  Island.  On  looking  over  his 
original  MS.  notes,  I  found  he  had  omitted  to  print  some  parti- 
culars of  the  evidence,  which  I  consider  of  no  small  interest  as 
throwing  light  on  a  class  of  geological  appearances  hitherto 
thought  least  reconcilable  with  the  ordinary  course  of  nature. 
As  to  the  carriage  of  huge  fragments  of  rock  for  many  hundreds 
of  miles,  from  one  region  to  another,  such  transportation  was 
formerly  appealed  to  by  writers  now  living  as  among  the  marvels 
of  the  olden  time,  resembling  the  feats  of  the  fabulous  ages,  and 
as  much  transcending  the  powers  of  nature  in  these  degenerate 
days,  as  the  stone  hvaleA^  Hector  against  the  Grecian  gate, 
exceeded  in  weight  and  size  what  could  now  be  raised  from  the 
JStltm  Btfdiigest  of  living  men  (olorwirpporoly^ 


Chap.  II.] 


ORGANIC  RE3MAINS  IJi  lOIL, 

"**^'^**~~— ^T^-T-' Mil 


Wf 


■llil.iiM 


But  after  reading  the  accountsgivenby  Sir  James  Ross  and  Captain 
Wilkes,  of  the  transfer  of  erratics  by  ice,  from  one  point  to  another 
of  the  southern  seas,  these  traveled  boulders  begin  to  be  regarded 
quite  as  vulgar  phenomena,  or  matters  of  every-day. occurrence. 

There  stiU  remain,  however,  among  the  wonders  of  the  polar 
regions,  some  geological  monuments  which  appear  sufficiently 
anomalous  when  we  seek  to  explain  them  by  modem  analogies 
I  refer  to  the  preservation  in  ice  of  the  carcasses  of  extinct  species 
of  quadrupeds  in  Siberia ;  not  only  the  rhinoceros  originally  dis- 
covered,  with  part  of  its  flesh,  by  Pallas,  and  the  mammoth 
afterward  met  with  on  the  Lena  by  Adams,  but  stiU  more 
recently  the  elephant  dug  up  by  Middendorf,  September,  1846 
which  retamed  even  the  bulb  of  the  eye  in  a  perfect  state,  and 
which  IS  now  to  be  seen  in  the  museum  at  Moscow.* 
.  In  part. of, the  unpublished  evidence  collected  by  Mr.  Hayes 
are  statements  trhich  may  perhaps  aid  us  in  elucidating  this  ob- 
scure subject ;  -at  aU  events  they  are  not  undeserving  of  notice 
were  it  only  to  aprove  that  nature  is  still  at  work  in  the  icy  region^ 
enveloping  a  store  of  organic  bodies  in  ice,  which,  after  »  series 
of  geographical  and  climatal  changes,  and  the  extermination  of 
some  of  the  existing  cetacea,  might  strike  the  investigator  at  some 
remote  period  of  the  future  as  being  fully  as  marvelous  as  any 
monuments  of  the  past  hitherto  discovered.     Thp  first  extract  ' 
which  I  make,  with  Mr.  Hayes'  permission,  fe  from  the  evidence 
of  Captam  Benjamin  Pendleton,  of  Stonington,  who,  from  his 
knowled'ge  of  the  South  Shetland  fisheries,  was  chosen  by  the 
American  government  to  accompany  the  late  exploring  expedition  to 
the  Antarctic  seas.     He  had  cruised  in  1820  and  1822  for  600 
miles  along  the  lofty  ice  clifis- bounding  the  great  southern  conti- 
nent.    He  says,  that  in  1821.  when  he  wished  to  bury  a  seaman 
m  one  of  the  South  Shetland  islands,  several  parties  of  twelve 
men  each,  were  set  to  dig  a  grave  in  the  blue  sand  and  gravel  • 
but  after  penetrating  in  nearly  a  hundred  places  through  six  or 
eight  mches'of  sand,  they  came  down  every  where  upon  soUd 
blue  ice      At  last  he  determmed  to  have  a  hole  cut  in  the  ice, 
of  which  the  island  prinnipallyjponHiHted,  and  th<^body^  the^i 


4 


•  See  "Principles  of  Geology,"  by  the  Author,  7th  ed.  1847,  p.  83. 


98 


W. 


mm^ 


.44. 


WHALE  DISgOVBEBD  IN  AN  lOBBEBG.        [Ohaf.  H. 


;v  was  plaused  in  it.  In  1822,  Captain  Bari^ham  dug  eut  the  body 
firom  the  ice,  and  found  the  clothes  and  flesh  perfectlj:  fresh  as 
"when  they  were  buried.  .'  . 

So  far  this  narrative  may  be  said  merely  to  confirm  and  to 
bear  out  another  pubUshed  by  Captain  KendaU,  of  our  navy/ in 
the  London  Geographical  Journal,  1830  (pp.  ,65,  66),  where  he 
relates  that  the  soil  of  Deception  Island,  one  of  th^  South  Sbet,-^ 
lands,  consists  of  ice  and  volcanic  ashes  interstratified,  and  hat 
discovered  there  the  body  of  a  foreign  saUor,  which  had  long 
-been  buried,  with  the  ^esh  and  all  the  features  perfectly  pre: 
served.  Mr.  Darwin,  commenting  on  that  fact,  has  observed, 
that  as  the  icy  soU  of  Deception  Island  is  situated  between  lat. 
62°  and  63°  S,,  it  is  nearer  the  equator  by  about  100  miles  than 
the  locality  where  Pallas  first  found  the  fi'ozien  rhinoceros  of  Si- 
beria, in  lat.  64°  N.* 

But  Captain  Pendleton  goes  on  to  relate,  that'while  he  was 
m  Deception  Island  an  iceberg  was  detached  from  a  cUff*  of  ice 
800  feet  high.  The  piece  which  fell  off  was  from  60  to  1 00  feet 
deep,  and  from  1 500  to  3000  feet  in  length.  At  an  elevaty  pf 
about  280  feet  above  the  level  of  the  se?,,  part  of  a  whal^was 
seen  remaining  inclosed  in  the  ice-clifi;  the  head  aid  anterior 
parts  having  broken  off  about  the  flippers  and  faUen  down  with 
the  detached  mass  of  ice.  The  species  was  what  the  whalers 
caU  the  «  Sulphur-bottom,"  resembling  the  fin-back.  Captain 
Pendleton  contrived  to  get  out  the  portion  which  had  faUen,  and 
obtamed  from  it  eight  or  ten  barrels  of  oU.  The  birds  for  a  long 
time  fed  upon  the  entrails.  This  fact  was  known  to  Captain 
Beck  and  others.  Captain  WflUam  Pendleton,  another  whaler 
of  expenence,  also  informs  Mr.  Hayes,  that  skeletons  of  whales 
had  been  met  with  in  the  South  Shetlands,  when  he  visited 
them,  300  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Thomas  Ash  also 
saw,  on  "  Ragged  Island"  beach,  the  skeleton  and  some  of  the 
soft  parts  of  a  whale  many  feet,  above  the  reach  of  the  highest 
tides.  Captain  William  Beck,  master  of  a  whaling  ship,  has 
seen  whales'  bones  and  carcasses  sixty  or  seventy  feet  ahq^e  the 
sea-level,  and  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  water.  /^ 


•  JMurwin's  Journal,  2d  ed.  p.  249. 


fr^.-«i 


Ohap.  n.^ 


ICEBERGS^ 


A 


To  explain  how  the  bodies  and  skeletons  of  these  inhabitants  j 
"of  the  deep,  whether  found  entombed  or  not  in  ice,  were  carried^ 
up  to  wnsiderable  heights  above  the  level  of  the  sea.'appeaW  to 
me  at  first  more  difficult  than  to  account  for  .their  having  been 
included  in  soUd  ice.  A  few  months  after  my  visit  to  Ports- 
mouth I  saw  Captain. WUkes,  of  the  United  States  Exploring 
Expedition,  and  called  his  attention  to  the  problem.  He 
remarked,  that  the  open  sea  sometimes  freezes  round  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  so  that  ships  can  not  approach  within  100  miles 
of  the  shore.  In  like  manner,  in  Antarctic  regions,  the  ocean 
often  freezes  over  the  base  of  a  cUff  formed  of  barrier  ice.  In 
all  these,  cfises,  the  sheet  of  ice,  however  continuous,  does  not 
adhere  to  th^  land  or  the  barrier,  because  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
tide,  however  slight,  causes  a  rent,  permitting  the  whole  mass  to 
move  up  and  down.  The  snow,  drifting  off  the  land  in  vast 
quantities  during  winter,  falls  over  the  cliffs  upon  the  frozen 
surface  of  the  sea,/until  its  weight  is  such  that  it  cduses  the 
whole  ms^  to  sivk^^  and  unless  the  winds  and  currents  happen 
to  float  it  off,  it  riiay  go  on  pubsiing  till  it  i^cquires  a  great 
thicknessj  and  may  at  las^  touch  the  bottom.  Before  this  hap- 
pens, however,  it  usually  gets  adrift,  and,  before  it  has  done 
melting,  tumbles  over  or  capsizes  more  than  once. 

On  my  ijeturn  to  England,  in  1846,  I  described  the  same 
phenomena^  my  friend  Dr.  Joseph  Hooker,  and  subsequently 
to  Sir  James  Ross,  and  they  both  of  them,  without  hearing 
Captain  Wilkes's  theory,  suggested  the  same  explanation,  having 
observed  that  a  great  sheet  of  ice  had  formed  in  the  sea  by  the 
freezing  of  melted  snow  on  the  southern  or  polar  side  of  every 
Antarctic  island.  If  the  carcass  of  a  dead  whale  be  thrown  up 
on  this  ice,  it  must  soon  be  buried  under  other  snow  drifted  from 
the  land,  and  will  at  length  be  inclosed  in  the  lower  part  of  an 
iceberg,  formed  in  the  manner  before  described.  The  frequent 
overturning  or  reversal  of  position  of  these  great  masses,  arises 
from  the  temperature  of  the  water  at  the  depth  of  1000  or  1500 
feet,  to  which  they  frequently  descend,  being  much  warmer  than 
the  incumbent  air  otmore  superA  " 


or  submerged  portions  melt,  the  center  of  gravity  is  soon  changed 


'^' 


rf'- 


'•i 


3  ■:w--. 


•'{■•■TV%>^V 


n%5;-^'' 


40 


JiU 


■f     ' 


ICEBERGS.  .      ^'  ' 


[Ohap.  H. 


idMUa-MlWMtiMMIKi 


.Tiiiilj-lriaiii 


Wd  a  magnificent  example  is  recorded  by  Sir  James  Ross  of  the 
capsizing  of  a  great  island  of  ice  near  Possession  Island,  iii  ltlt.» 
71°  66'  S.  What  had  previously  been  the  bottom  came  up 
•tind  rose  100  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  sea,  and  the  whole  of 
the  new  top  and  eastern  side  were  seen  to  b^  covered  with  earth 
and  stones.  A.  party  landed  on  it,  aiid  a  slight  jocking  motion 
was  still  perceptible,  fluch  as  no  waves  or  swell  of  the  sea,  even 
in  a  storm,  are  ever  capable  of  imparting  to  such  large  icebergs.** 
The  lower  down  the  carcass  of -the  whale  is  buried  in  the  original 
bei^,  the  higher  up  will  it  be  raised  above  the  level' of  the  sea 
when  the  same  berg  has  turned  over. , 

*  Sir  J.  Rosins  Voyage  to  Southern  Seas,  vol",  i.  pp.  195,  196.         r 


t    - 

/ 


Sf 


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"^li 


41^ 


t         > 


CHAPTER  ,m. 


,k-' 


Bortlattl  in  Mam©.— -KenneBeo  River.— Timber  Trade.— Fossil  Shells  at 
.  Gardiner— Augusta,  the  Capital  of  Mairtb.— Legal  Profession :  Advc 
oateB  and  Attorneys.— Equality  of  Sects.— Religious  ToleraUon.— CdU 
vii^Uo  Theology. — ^Day  of  Doom.  •_ .  ./  .-^        _^1 „  :^ 

Sep*.  25,  1846 — ^Here  we  are.  at  mid-day  flying  along  at 
the  rate  of  twenty-five  and  occasionally  thirty  miles  an  hour,  on. 
our  way  to  Portland,  the  chief  city  of  Maine.  It  was  only  yes- 
terday afternoon  that  we  left  Boston,  and  in  less  than  three 
hours  we  performed  what  would  have  been  formerly  reckoned  a 
good  day's  journey  of  forty-five  miles,  had  seen  at  Portsmouth 
some  collections  of  natural  history,  and  afterward  gone  to  a  ball. 
In  the  forenoon  of  this  day  I  have  made  geological  excursions  on 
both  banks  of  the  Piscataqua,  and  before  dark  shall  have  sailed 
far  up  the  Kennebec.     It  is  an  agreeable  novelty  to  a  naturalist 

„  to  combine  the  speed  of  a  railway  and  the  luxury  of  good  inns 
with  the  sight  of  the  native  forest—the  advantages  of  civilization 
with  the  beauty  of  unreclaimed  nature—no  hedges,  few  plowed 
fields,  the  wild  plants,  trees,  birds,  and  animals  undisturbed. 

Cheap  as  are  the  fares,  these  railroads,  I  am  told,  yield  high 
profits,  because  the  land  through  which  th6y  run  costs,  nothing. 
When  we  had  traversed  a  distance  of  about  sixty  miles,  the  cars 
gUded  along  some  rails  over  the  wharf  at  Portland,  and  we  ahnost 
stepped  from  our  seats  qh  to  the  deck  of  the  Huntress  steamer, 
which  was  ready  to  convey  us  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec  river. 
After  threading  a  cluster  of  rocky  islands  adorned  with  fir  and 
birch  in  the  beautiful  Bay  of  Casco,  we  came  to  the  Sound,  and 
for  a  short  space  were  in  the  open  sea,  with  no  view  but  that  of 
a  distant  coast.  As  there  was  nothing  to  see,  we  were  glad  to 
be  mvited  to  dinner,  and  were  conducted  to  the  gentlemen's 
cabm,  a  sort  of  sunk  story,  to  which  the  ladies,  or  the  women  of  ^ 

,,^y  degree,  were,  according  to  the^^uaual.*tiquette,^flc«r^o^m=- 


fiwt,  and  carefully  seated  at  the  table  by  the  captain,  before  the 


^. 


^-■.- 


T-l         ,-^»^'^ttJ^'«-» 


'   ''W^'^^^^^'rf 


«8 


NEW  ENGLAND  TRAVELING. 


s?)* 


[Chap.  IIL 


;         gentlemen  were  admitted.     Above  this  apartment  where  we 
*V      dined  was  the  ladies'  cabin,  and  above  that  the  upper  deck, 
where  we  sat  to  enjoy  the  prospect  as  we  approached  the  mouth 
of  the  Kennebec.     In  the  forepart  of  the  vessel,  on  this  upper 
^_  '    deck,  is  a  small  room,  having  windows  on  all  sides,  where  the 

man  at  the  helm  is  stationed ;  not^t  the  stem,  as  in  our  boats, 
which  is  considered  hy  the  Americans  as  a  great  improvement 
on  the  old  system,  as  the  steersman's  view  can  not  be  intercepted, 
and  the  passengers  are  never  requested  to  step  on  one  side  to 
enable  him  to  see  his  way.  Directions  to  the  engineer,  instead 
of  being  transmitted  by  voice  through  an  intermediate  messenger, 
are  given  directly  by  one  or  more  loud  strokes  on  a  bell.  The 
fuel  4i8ed  is  anfllracite,  the  absence  of  oxygen  being  compensated 
by  a  strong  current  of  air  kept  up  by  what  resembles  a  winnow- 
ing-machine,  and  does  the  work  of  a  pair  of  bellows.    " 

After  sailing  up.  the  Kennebec  about  fifteen  mUes  we  came  to 
Bath,  a  town  of  5000  souls,  chiefly  engaged  in  ship-building,  a 
branch  of  industry  in  which  the  State  of  Maine  ranks  first  in 
the  Union ;  the  materials  consistiiig  of  white  oak  and  pine,  the 
growth  of  native  forests.  Large  logs  of  timber  squared,  and 
each  marked  with  the  owner's  name,  are  often  cast  into  the 
river,  sometimes  far  above  Augusta,  and  cora^  floating  down  100 
miles  to  this  place.  In  winter  many  of  them  get  frozen  into  the 
ice  and  imprisoned  for  six  or  seven  months,  until  the  late  spring 
releases  them,  and  then  not  a  few  of  them  are  carried  far  out 
into  the  Atlantic,  where  they  have  been  picked  up,  with  the 
ojirner's  name  still  telling  the  place  of  their  origin.  The  water 
is  salt  as  far  as  Bath,  above  which  it  is  fresh  and  freezes  over,  so 
as  to  allow  sleighs  and  skaters  to  cross  it  iiv^inter,  although  the 
^  influence  of  the  tide  extends  «  far  up  as  Augusta,  about  forty 

miles  above  Bath.  I  am  informed  that  the  whole  .body  of  the 
»ce  rises  and  falls,  craicking  along  the  edges  where  it  is  weakest. 
Over  the  fissures  planks  are  placed  to  serve  as  a  bridge,  or  snow 
IS  thrown  in.  which  freezes,  and  aflbrdi  a  passage  to  the  central 
ice.  The  Kennebec,  besides  being  enlivened  by  the  «« lumber 
trade."  is  at  this  season  whitened  with  the  saUs  of  vessels  lilden 
with,  hay,  which  has  beea-ewiipfewed^  into  matt  iwrfk  iiythi^ 


t 


•%-»*^i'*!W»if'?'t'W-  JJi.    -'    iXf 


J    -    C.    -E    I     J--         .^   fpW*pf^*'^J^-^f^-\,-'>^ 


Chap.  Ill] 


THE  KENNEBEC. 


48 


a  winnow- 


power  of  steam.  Many  of  these  merchantmen  are  destined  for 
Ne^  York,  where  the  unusual  heat  and  drought  of  the  summer 
has  caused  a  scanty  crop  of  grass,  but  hundreds  are  bound  to  the 
distant  ports  of  Mobile  and  New  Orleans  ;  so  that  the^orses  of 
Alabama  and  Louisiana  are  made  to  graze  on  the  sweet  pastures 
ol  Mame.  instead  of  the  coarser  and  ranker  herbage  of  the  south- 
em  prairies  In  a  few  months  these  northem-buUt  ships  wiU 
bring  back  bales  of  cotton  for  factories  newly  established  by  Bos- 
ton  capitalists,  and  worked  on  this  river  both  by  water  power 
and  steam.  Such  are  the  happy  consequences  of  the  annexation 
of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States.  But  for  that  event,  the  fa- 
vorite theories  of  pohtical  economy  in  New  England,  and  the  duty 
of  protecting  native  mdustry,  would  have  interposed  many-  a 

the^i^s^r  i  ^^^  **"^  ^^^^  ^^^  "^^  *^^'  ^"^^y  «^  ' 

As  we  passed  Bath  a  l^rge  eagle,  with  black,  wings  and  a 
white  body,  was  seen  soaring  over  our  heads ;  and.  a  few  miles 
above,  where  the  salt  and  fresh  water  meet,  seals  were  seen 
sporting  close  to  the  steamer.     The  Kemiebec  is  said  to  abound 
m  salmon.     We  admired  the  great  variety  of  trees  on  its  banks  • 
two.  kinds  of  birch  with  larger  leaves  than  our  British  s^^ 
several  oaks  and  pines,  the  hemlock  with  foliage  like  a  ye^tree 
and  the  silver-fir.  and  two  species  of  maple,  the  sugarCrk    ' 
maple  (^cer^ecAaWn^...).  and  the  white  (^.  dalycurpZl 
both  of  which  yield  sugar.     To  these  two  trees  the  Wutf^i 
brUhancy  of  the  autumnal  tints  of  the  American  forests  arJJT 
the  rock  maple  turnmg  red,  purple  and  scarlet,  and  the  wWte 
first  yeUow.  and  then  red.  »      u  me  wmte. 

stZ  w''  '""''7'^  f  *^'  Huntress  to  Gardiner,  the  head  of 
steamboat  navigation  here,  sixty-eight  miles  distant  from  Port-    ^ 
land  where  we  visited  the  country  house  of  Mr.  Gardiner.  wh2  ^ 

of  an  English  country  seat,  and  surrounded  by  a  park.     At  Mr 

fheUrand'T"'''  "'^^  '""^^  ^^*«-*'   "^  -"-^ion  o7  f^i 
Bhelk  and  crustacea.  made  by  Mrs.  Allen  from  the  drift  or  «•  gk 


daicnbed       .^£^^^^'^^i^^^J^^^SiL.r^r\f^rc^mih,  already 
d-cnbed.     Among  other  remain.  I  recognized  the  tooth  of  a 


44 


FOSSIL  REMAINS. 


[Chap.  IIL 


walrus,  similar  to  one  procured  by  me  in  Martha's  Vineyard  » 
and  other  teeth,  since  determined  for  me  by  Professor  Owen  as 
belonging  to  the  buffalo  or  American  bison.     These  are,  I  be- 
lieve, the  first  examples  of  land  quadrupeds  discovered  in  beds  of 
this  age  in  the  United  States.     The  accompanying  sheUs  consist- 
ed of  the,  common  mussel  {Mytilus  edulis),  Saxdava  rugosa, 
Mya  arenaria,  Pecten  Islandiciis,  and  speaes  of  the  genera 
Astarte,  Nucula,  &c.     The  horizontal  beds  of  clay  and  sand 
which  contain   these   remains  of  northern  species,  and  which 
imply  that  the  whole  region  was  benea.th  the  sea  at  no  distant 
period,  impart  to  the  scenery  of  the  country  bordering  the  Kenne- 
bec Its  leading  features.     The  deposit  of  clay  and  sand  is  170 
feet  thick  in  some  places,  and  numerous  valleys  70  feet  deep  are 
hollowed  out  of  it  by  every  small  stream.     At  Augusta  I^saw 
this  modem  tertiary  forrtlation,  100  feet  thick,  resting  on  a  ledge 
of  mica  schist,  the  shells  being  easily  obtained  from  an  under- 
mined  cliff  of  clay.     In  some  places,,  as  at  Gardiner,  conical  hil-  ^ 
locks,  chiefly  of  gravel,  about  fifty  feet  high,  and  compared  here 
on  account  of  the  regularity  of  their  form,  to  Indian  mounds, 
stand  isolated  near  the  river.     I  conceive  them  to  owe  theit 
shape  to  what  the  geologists  term  '« denudation,"  or  the  action 
of  waves  and  currents,  which,  as  the  country  was  rising  gradu- 
ally  out  of  the  sea,  removed  the  surrounding  softer  clay  and  left 
these  masses  undestroyed.     They  Would  offer  resistance  to  the 
lorce  of  moving  water  by  the  great  weight  and  size  of  their  com- 
ponent materials ;   for  in  them  we  find  not  only  pebbles,  but 
many  large  boulders  of  granite  and  other  rocks. 

Mr,  Allen  drove  us  in  his  carriage  to  Augusta*  six  miles  from 
Gardiner,  and  200  miles  N.R  of  Boston,  where  we  visited  the 
State  House,  handsomely  built  in  the  Grecian  style,  with  a  per- 
tico  and  large  columns,  the  stone  t»ed  being  the  white  granite  of  /     l'| 
this  country.     The  rooms  for  the  two  houses  of  the  legislature/     1  ^^ 
are  very  convenient.     I  was  shown  the  library  by  the  governor/      I 
who  called  my  attention  to  some  books  and  maps  on  geology,  ani       ' 
talked  of  a  plan  for  resuming  the  geological  survey  oi  the  Stati^ 
not  yet  completed. 

*  flee  "  Travel!,"  vol.  i.  p.  age. 


Chap.  III.] 


LEGAL  PROFESSION. 


45 


Sept.  27 — Returned  by  the  Huntress  steamer  to  Portland 
after  sailing  at  the  rate  of  fourteen  miles  an  hour.     On  board 
were  some  lawyers,  to  one  of  whom,  a  judge  in  the  State  of 
Mame,  Mr.  Gardiner  had  introduced  me.     The  profession  of  the 
law  IS,  of  all  others  in  the  United  States,  that  which  attracts  to 
It  the  greatest  number  of  able  and  highly  educated  men,  not  only 
for  Its  own  sake,  but  because  it  is  a  great  school  for  the  training 
up  of  politicians.     The  competition  of  so  many  practitioner! 
cheapens  fees,  and,  although  this  is  said  to  promote  htigation  it 
has  at  least^the  great  advantage  of  placing  the  poor  man  on  a 
more  equal  footing  with  the  rich,  as  none  but  the  latter  can 
attempt  to  assert  their  rights  in  countries  where  the  cost  of  a 
successful  law-suit  may  be  ruinous.     Practically,  there  is  much 
the  same  subdivision  of , labor  in  the  legal  profession  here  as  in 
Jingland ;  for  a  man  of  eminence  enters  into  partnership  with 
some  one  or  more  of  the  younger  or  less  talented  lawyere,  who 
play  the  part  assigned  with  us  to  junior  counsel  imd  attorneys 
There  are,  however,  no  two  grades  here  corresponding  to  barris- 
ter and  attorney,  from  the  inferior  of  which  alone  practitioners 
caa  pass  in  the  regular  course  of  promotion  to  the  higher.    Every 
laA^er  m  the  United  States  may  plead  in  court,  and  address  a 
jury ;  and,  if  he  is  successful,  may  be  raised  to  the  bench  •  but 
he  must  quahTy  as  counselor,  in  order  tobe  entitled  to  plead  in 
the  Supreme  Courts,  where  cases  are  heard  involving  points  at 
iBsue  between  the  tribunal,  of  independent   states.     The  line 
drawn  between  barrister  and  attorney  in  Great  Britain,  which 
never  existed  even  in  colonial  times  in  Massachusetts,  could  only 
be  tolerated  m  a  country  where  the  aristocratic  element  is  ex- 
ceedmgly  predommant.     In  the  English  Church,  where  seats  in 
the  House  of  Lords  are  held  by  the  bishops,  we  see  how  the  rank 
of  a  whole  profession  may  be  elevated  by  making  high  distmc- 

ner    the  highest  honors  of  the  bar  and   bench  might  bo  open 

ers  m  Great  Britain,  seems  to  be  proved  by  the  fact,  that  occa- 

^tr urao Uuo  ana  Itftrtitiir  u no w    «...   -**„:„    i.-i      .1  1. 


/ 


i..».Uuc  and  .larting  anew,  can  attain,  like  the  present  Chief 


<I%KM.     ..MtfeC  W^^ 


"W?,'  ' 


46 


EQUALITY  OF  SECTS. 


[Chap.  IIL 


Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas,  to  places  of  the  first  dignity.  In 
Canada,  mider  British  rnle,  it  is  thp' custom  to  grajxt  licenses  to 
the  same  individual  to.  practice  indifierently  in  allthe  courts  as 
advocate,  solicitor,  attorney,  Imd  proctor.  When  we  consider 
the  confidential  nature  of  the  business  transacted  by  English,  at- 
torneys, the  extent  of  property  conmiitted  to  th^ir  charge,  the 
manner  in  which  they  are  consulted  in  f^nUy  affairs  of  the  ut- 
most delicacy,  as  in  the  framing  of  marriage  contracts  and  wills, 
and  observe,  moreover,  how  the  management  of  elections  falls 
mto  their  hands,  we  may  well  question  the  policy  of  creating  an 
artificial  line  of  demarkation  between  them  and  the  advocates, 
marked  enough  to  depress  their  social  rank,  and  to  deter  many 
young  men  of  good  families,  who  can  best  afford  to  obtain  a  lib- 
eral  education,  from  entering  the  most  profitable,  and,  in  reality, 
the  most  important  branch  of  the  profession.      ; 

I  have  mentioned  the  Supreme  Courts;  in  these,  in  each  state,, 
cases  are  heard  involving  points  at  issue  between  two  independent 
jurisdictions';  and  in  order  to  preserve  uniformity  in  the  interpret- 
atibn  of  many  different  codes,  as  in  the  statutes  passed  from  time 
to  time  hy  state  legislatiires,  the  previous  decisions  of  courts  of 
law  are  referred  to,  and  the  authority  of  judges  of  high,  repute  in 
•   any  part  of  the  Union,  and  even  in  Great  Britain,  frequently 
cited^      As  points  of  international  law  are  perpetually  arising 
Tietween  so  many  jurisdictions,  the  Supreme  Courts  afford  a  fine 
field  for  the  exercise  of  legal  talent,  and  for  forming  jurists  of 
y  enlarged  views. 

*^  Portland,  with  1.5,000  inhabitants,  is  the  principal  city  of 
Mame ;  gay  and  cheerful,  with  neat  white  housed,  shaded  ]by 
avenues  of  trees  on  each  side  of  the  wide  ptreets,  the  bright  sunny 
air  unsullied,  as  usual  in  New  England,  by  coal  smoke.  There 
are  churches  hete  of  every  religious  denomination :  Congrega|ion- 
ahsts.  Baptists,  Methodists,  Free-will  Baptists,  Universalists, 
Unitarians,  Episcopalians,  Roman  Catholics,  -and  Quakers,  all 
living  harmoniously  together.  The  late  governor  of  the  rtate 
was  a  Unitarian;  and,  as  if  to  prove  the  perfect  toleration '  of 
churches  the  most  opi^sed  to  each  other,  they  have  recently  hitd 
— »  Roman  Cathohcgovenior    — ^^'^       ~ — ~;  — 


"f     s 


j;^,''^ 


*/ 


Chap.  III.] 

^—. 


RELIGIOUS  TOLERATION. 


47 


On  Sunday  we  accompanied  the  family  of  a  lawyer,  to  whom 
we  had  broug^  letter^,  to  a  Unitarian  church.  There  wa» 
nothing  doctrinal  in  the  WsMn.  and.  among  other  indications  of 
the  altered  and  softened  feelingcg^the  sects  which  have  sprung 
from  the  old  Puritan  stock,  I  rem^sked  a  gUt  cross  placed  over 
the  altar.  The  officiating  minister  told  me  that  this  step  had 
been  taken  with  the.consent  of  the  conWation,  though  not  with- 
out the  opposition  of  some  of  his  elders.  \  The  early  Puritans  re- 
garded this  symbol  as  they^id  pictures  and  images,  as  the  badges 
of  superstition,  the-  relics  of  the  idolatrous  religion  so  lately  re- 
nounced  by  them ;  and  it  is  curious  to  read,  in,  the  aimals  of  the 
first  colomsts  at  Salem,  how,  in  1634,  the  followers  of  Roger 
Williams,  the  Brownist,  went  so  far  as  to  cut  that  "  popish  em- 
blem, the  red  cross,  out  of  the  royal  stand^d,  as  one  which  the 
tram  bands  ought  no  longer  to  follow.* 

During  my  first  visit  to"  the  New  England   States,  I  was 
greatly  at  a  loss  to  comprehend  by  what  means  so  large  a  pop- 
ulation had  been  brought  to  unite  great  earnestness  of  religious 
feeling  with  so  much  real  toleration.    In  seeking  for  the  cause,  we 
must  go  farther  back  than  the  common  schools,  or  at  least  the 
present  improved  state  of  popular  education  ;  for  we  are  still  met 
with  the  question.  How  could  such  schools  be  maintained  by  the 
state,  or  by  compulsory  as^ssments,  on  so  liberal  a  footing,  in 
spite  of  the  -fanaticism  anj  sectarian  prejudices  of  the  vulgar  ^ 
When  we  call  to  mind  the  religious  enthusiasm  of  the  early  Pu- 
ritans and  how  at  first  they  merely  exchanged  a  servile  obedience  - 
to  tradition,  and  the  authority  of  the  Church,  for  an  equally  blind 
wnpturahsm,  or  implicit  faith  in  the  letter  of  every  part  of  the 
Bible,  acting  as  if  they  believed  that  God.-  by  some  miraculous 
I   process,  had  dictated  aU  the  Hebrew  words  of  the  Old,  and  aU 
the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament ;  nay,  tJie  illiterate  among 
them  chenshing  the  same  superstitious  veneration  for  every  sylla- 
ble  of  the  PngUsh  translation— how  these  religionists,  who  did 
not  hesitate  to  condemn  several  citizens  to  be  publicly  whipped 
for  denying  that  the  Jewish  code  was  obligatory  on  Christians  as 
ajrule  of  hfe,  and  who  wftre  fully  ppnin«>lo,i  that  thov  alone 
•  Graham's  I%tory  of  United  Sutes,  vol.  i.  p.  22J. 


iS 


■^luM-^^ 


0  • 


t%Ji4iBi-.'*  ^,',f„,.'.'.:i^ksisA^i- 


■,SV,       ^,h:-,^' 


•  -i  ■   •  '7;   p-i- 


48 


CALVINISTIO  THEOLOGY. 


[Chap,  UL 


chosen  people  of.  God,  should  bequeath  to  their  immediate  posterity 
such  a  philosophicarspirit  as  must  precede  the  organization  by  the 
wholflf  people  of  a  system  of  secular  education  acq^ptable  to  all, 
and  accompanied  by  the  social  and  political'  equality  of  religious 

sects  such  as  no  other  civilized  commuhity  has  yet  achieved 

this  certainly  is  a  problem  well  worthy  of  the  study  of  every 
reflecting  mind.  To  attribute  this  aatiqual  characteristic  to  the 
voluntary  system,  would  be  an  anachronism,  as  that  is  df  cbm- ' 
paratively  modem  date  ih  New  England;  besides  that 'the  de- 
pendence of  the  ministers  on  their  flocks,  by  transferring  ecclesi- 
-astical  power  to  the  multitude,  only  gives  to  their  bigotry,  ifjthey 
be  ignorant,  a  more  dangerous  sway.  So,  also,  of  universal  suf- 
frage ;  by  investing  the  million  with  political  power,  it  renders 
the  average  amount  of  their  enlightenment  the  measure  of  the 
liberty  enjoyed  by  those  who  entertain  religious  opinj^ns .  disap- 
proved of  by  the  majority.  Of  the  natural  eflects  of  such  power, 
and  the  homage  paid  to  it  by  the  higher  classes,  even  where  the 
poUtical  institutions  are  only  partially  democratic,  we  have 
abandant  exemplification  in  Europe,  where  the  ^educated  of  the 
laity  and  clergy,  in  spite  of  their  comparative  mdependence  -  of 
the  popular  will,  defer  outwardly  to  mahy  theological  notion^  of 
the  vulgar  with  which  they  have  oftenno  real  sympathy. 

To  account  for  the  toleration  prevailing  in  New  England  and 
the  states  chiefly  peopled  Aom  thence,  we  must  refer  to  a  com- 
bination of  many  favorable  circumstances,  some  of  them  of  ancient 
date,  and  derived  from.the  times  of  the  first  Puritan  settlers.    To 
these  I  shall  have  many  opportunities  of  alluding -in  the  sequel  ; 
but  I  shall  mention  now  a  more  modern  cause,  the  efiect  of  which 
wa^^  brought  vividly  before  piy  mind,  in  conversations  with  sev- 
eral lawyers  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  and  Masgachusetts, 
whom  I  fell  in  with  6n  this  tour.     I  mean  the  reaction  against 
the  extreriie  Calvinism  of  the  church  first  estabUAed  in  this  part 
of  America,  U  movement  which  has  had  a  powerful  tende^cy  to 
subdue  atid  mitigate  sectarian  bitterness.     In  'order  to  give  me 
^me  idea  of  the  length  to  ^hich  the  old  Calvinistic  doctrines 
tuyere  mstilled  into  the  infant  mind,  one  of  ifty  companions  pre- 
Hpntftd  mo  with  a  ourious  poeiiir  called  ihe-^  Bay  irf'  DooffiT' 


Bsst    ^T~ 


'.^^:/F--^  ^*- 


Obap,  hi.) 


"DAY  OF  DOOM." 


49 


formerly  n«d  «-»  school  book  in  New  England,  uid  which 
elderly  per«,n.  toown  to  him  had  been  required,  some  seventv 
y^  ago.  to  get  by  rote  a.  children.  This  t^k  must  have  ocou- 
ped  no  «naU,  portion  of  their  time.  »,  thi.  Wring  of  doegrel 
Ayme.  makei  up  no  len  than  224  stanza,  of  eight  lines  ewh 
They  were  wrrtten  by  Michael  Wigglesworth.  aIi..  teacher  of 
the  church  of  MMdcn.  New  England,  and  profess  to  give  i  poet- 
.cal  descnphon  of  the  Last  Judgment.  A  great  array  of  S^p- 
ture  texts,  from  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  i,  cited  Loughout 
m  fte  margm  as  warranty  for  the  orthodoxy  of  ercw  dogma. 

Were  such  a  composition  ,ow  submitted  to  any  committee  of 
school  manors  or  teachers  in  New  Engl«.d,  they  would  not 
only  reject  It  but  the  most  orthodox  among'them  wou^d  shrewdly 
suspect  It  to  be  a  "weak  invention  of  the, enemy,"  designed  to 

Z7T-  "l  ?T  ""'"'  ^r^"^  "•  P««»"ly  those  teTeUrf 
the  dominant  Cal™usm  which  the  moderate  paity  object  to,  as 
ou  raging  human  reas«,  and  a.  derogatory  to  the  miral  attri- 

f„t"  f<^"  ?"rr;  ^"S-  ^"'=''-  •""«'"'  -^  «»t  the  feci- 
ings  of  fte  celebrated  Cotton  Mather,  in  the  year  1705,  when  he 

preached  a  funeral  sermon  on  the  author,  whichl  findTXel 

to  my  copy  of  the  sixth  edition.  pri„t«l  in'l715.     C^^tr^a 

s.on  he  not  only  eulogize.  Wiggle.worth,  but  affirm,  that  le 

poem  Itself  contains  -plain  tnith.  d,«t  up  in  a  pUin  m^ter  '>• 

and  further  prophesie.,  that  "  a.  the  •  Day  of  W  hS  t^n 

oft^i  repnntod  m  both  England.,  it  wiU  iVrt  tiU  the  Day  iS 

sh^l  a«ive."     Some  e«racti  from  this  document  will  aid  Th« 

n»der  to  eshmato  the  wonderful  revolution  in  popular  opinln 

brought  about  m  one  or  two  generation.,  by  whwf  the  hSor 

and  sterner  features  of  the  old  Calvinistio  crid  have  be^n  Zr  y 

erad,cat«l.     Its  profeasoy.  indeed,  may  rtll  contend  a.  .tou  ly 

Z^^'^tT  "'"T"'"'"  "^  «'"'  '««««^  f-th.  ..they 
nught  figh   for  any  other  party  bamier ;  bat  their  fanatical  de- 

ehurche.,  ha.  happily  softened  down  or  diwppeared 

The  poem  open.^th  the  arraignment  of  all  "  the  quick  and 


4 


V     '"■>'.'•     igrpf^^ 


50 


"DAY  OF  DOOM." 


EQhap.  III. 


of  them  declare  that  the  Scriptures  are  "  so  dark,  that  they  harve 
puzzled  the  wisest  men;"  others  that,  heing  "heathens,"  and 
having  never  had  "  the  written  Word  preached  to  theqi,"  they 
are  entitled  to  pardon ;  in  reply  to  which,  the  metaphysical  sub- 
tleties of  the  doctrines  of  election  and  grace  are  fuUy  propound- 
ed. The  next  class  of  offenders  might  awaken  the  sympathies 
of  any  hbart  not  protected  by  a  bresi^tplate  of  theological  dog- 
matism : — 

"  Then  to  the  bar  all  they  drew  near 
Who  died  in  infancy, 
And  never  had,  or  good  or  bad, 
Effected  personally,"  &o. 

These  infants  remonstrate  against  the  hardship  <^  having 
Adam's  guilt  laid  to  their  charge  : — 

"Not  we,  but  he,  ate  of  the  tree 

Whose  fruit  was  interdicted ;  •/ 

Yet  on  us  all,  of  his  sad  fall, 
The  punishment's  inflicted." 

The  Judge  replies^^hat  none  can  suffer  "  for  what  they  never^ 

"  But  what  you  call  old  Adam's  fall, 
And  only  his  trespass,' 
You  call  amiss  to  call  it  his, 
Both  his  and  yours  it  was. 

"  He  was  designed,  of  all  mankind. 
To  be  a  public  head ; 
A  ^common  root,  whence  all  should  shoot, 
And  stood  in  all  their  stead. 

"  He  stood  and  fell,  did  ill-and  well 
Not  for  himself  alone, 
Bilt  for  you  all,  who  now  his  fiE^  ,  ,   . 

And  trespass  would  diso#n. 

"  If  he  he  had  stood,  then  all  his  brood 
Had  been  established,"  &o. 

"  Would  you  have  grieved  to  have  received 
Though  Adam  so  much  good  ?"  &c. 

"  Since  then  to  share  in  his  welfare 
You  would  have  been  content, 
You  may  with  reason,  share  in  his  treasqi^ 
"And  in  his^pluiiiihiueiit."  T"^ 


did :". 


(171.) 


(172.) 


(173.) 
(174.) 


w 


Chap.  Ill] 


4 


"DAY  OF  DOOM. 


61 


A  great  body  of  |5ripture  texts  are  her^iitroduced  in  confenn- 
ation ;  but  the  chil(|ea  are  told,  even  inejMg  those  <'  who  from 
the  wcmib  unto  the|o|hb  were  straightway  carried,"  that  thev 
are  to  have  "  the  eaMeit  room  inhell :"— 

(181.)       "Th^gli^us  King,  thus  answering, 
vThey  cease,  and  plead  no  longer, 
T^hr  consciences  must  needs  confess 
'     Wk  reasons  are  the  stronger." 

m  pains  of  jheU  and  the  constant  renovatii^  of  strength  to 

r  ^i^L""^^  ^^'"  *"  ^^'  "^  «*^"^*y  of  torm^t,  are 
then  ddated  upon  at  such  length,  and  so  minutely,  and  a  picture 
80  hanrowmg  to  the  soul  is  drawn,  as  to'  remind  us  of  the  excel- 
lent  observations  on  this  head  of  a  modern  New  Engliind  divine  " 

ihe  mi^°'  rf;t^C  'f  '''''  "  '''''  *^^  '"-^  oTsljuga^ 
the  min^  should  be  freely  used  and  dreadfully  perverted,  when 
we  consider  that  no  talent  is  required  to  ins/ire  fear,  and  thit 
coMse  mmds  and  hard  hearts  ^e  signally  gifted  for  idiis  work  of 
torture  "  It  is  an  instrument  of  tremendous  power,"  he  adds 
•enabhng  a  Protestant  minister,  whilst  disclaiming  papal  pre' 
tensions,  to  bujd  up  a  spiritual  despotism,  and  to  Wet  L  those 
committed  to  his  guidance  a  passive,  servile  state  of  mind,  too 
agitated  lor  dehberate  and  vigorous  thought  "  * 

usu^^lf  r  r"'  'J^'^'*"'  "^  ^^^'^'  ^"^^^«''  ^^  ^«  desire  to 
,U3urp  ai^  undue  influence  over  his  panic-stricken  hearers,  is  very 

probable,  and  that  he  was  only  indulging  in  the  usual  s  rain  oT" 
the  preachers  of  his  tmie.  when  he  told  of  the  "yelling  of  the 
damned,  as  they^were  burnt  etemaUy  in  the  comp^Tdevils  " 
and  went  on  to  describe  how—  -  ' 

,    "God's  vengeance  feeds  the  flame 

With  piles  of  wood  and, brimstone  flood, 
That  none  can  quench  the  same." 

We  next  learn  that  the  peace  and  calm  blessedness  of  the 
saints  elect  who  are  received  into  heaven,  is  not^^d  L 1 
disturbed  by  compassion  for  the  damned;  mother  and  fal« 
feehng  no  pity  for  their  lost  children  :— 


*  Channing's  Worlw,  London,  vol.  iii.  p.  263. 


II 


.X 


t   .7  lii*     i.      .*£-  I.    '^,^'-»l  U<lh 


PP^^PM 


"DAY  OF  DOOM." 


[Chap.  IVl. 


enres  n 


"  The  godlj  wife  conceives  no  grief,  * 

Nor  can  she  shed  a  tear,^  '      . 

Tqt  the  sad  fate  of  her  dear  mate 
When  she  his  doom  doth  heaf."  ~ 

The  great  distinction  between  the  spirit  of  the  times  when 
these  verses  were  written  and  the  present  agte,  appears  to  be  this, 
that  a  paramount  importance  was  dien  attached  tb  those  dooti^inal 
points  in  which  the  leading  sects  differed  from  each  other,  whereas 
now  Christianity  is  more  generally  considered  to  consist  essen- 
tially ii^  believing  and  obeying  those  scriptural  precepts  on  which 
all  churches  agree. 


IL. 


y 

■    - 

.. 

-. 

■■^ 

< 

t 

■ 

■♦ 

r 

» 

» 

I 

) 

' 

• 

f 

■' 

'■«.i»i*'*''t,.,.- 

.W.  .... 

- 

^' 

•*  ^ii 

-'^^M^ 

*^5ei?*?^i^ 


-4 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Journey  from  Portland  to  the  White  Mountains.— Plants— Churches, 
School-houses.— Temperance  Hotel. — Intelligence  of  New  Englanders. 
--Climate,  Consumption. — Conway. — Divifion  of  Property. — Every  Maii 
his  own  Tenant.— Antumnal  Tints.— Bears  hybemating.— Willey  Slide. 
—Theory  of  Scratches  and  Glooves  on  Rocks— Scenery. — Waterfalls 

^and  Ravines— The  Notch— Forest  Trees   ^d   Mountain  Plants 

Fabyan's  Hotel. — Echo. 

Sept.  28,  1845.— Leaving  Portland  ami  the  sea-coaat,  we 
now  struck  inknd  in  a  westerly  direction  toward  the  White 
Mountains,  having  hired  a  carriage  which  carried  us  to  Standish. 
We.passed  at  first  over  a  low,  featureless  country,  but  enlivened 
by  the  brilliant  autumml  coloring  of  the  foliage,  especially  th« 
bright  red,  purple,  and  ^low  tints  of  tha^maple.     The  leaves 
of  these  trees  and  of  ^^scrub  oak  had  been  made-  to  change 
color  by  the  late  frost  of  the  1 0th  of  this  month.    On  the  borders 
jf  the  road,  on  each  side,  mixed  with  the  fragrant  "  sweet  fern," 
Me  saw  abundance  of  the  Spiraa  tomentosa,  its  spike  of  purplish 
!  flowers  now  nearly  faded.     The  name  of  "hard  4lack"  was  given 
to  It  by  the  first  settiers,  because  the  stalk  turned  the  edge  of 
the  mower's  scythe.     There  were  also  golden  rods,  everlastings, 
and  asters  m  profusion ;   one  of  the  asters  being  called  "  frost 
blow,"  because  flowering  after  the  first  firost.     We^^  gajthered 
<m  the  ground  the  red  fruit  of  the  checkerberry  (Ga%dteria  pro- 
almbens),  used  in  New  England  to  flavor  sweetmeats.     By  the 
Bide  of  these  indigenous  plants  wai  the  common  English  self-heal 
(Frunella  vulgaris),  the  mullein  (  Verbascum  thap$Us),  and  other 
flowers,  reminding  me  of  the  remark  of  an  American  botanist, 
that  New  England  has  becMne  the  garden  of  European  weeds  * 
BO  that  in  some  agricultural  counties  near  the  cpast,  such  as  Essex 
m  Massachusetts,  the  exotics  almost  outnimiber  the  native  plants 

tovvald  the  leirion  where  Nnrtli   AYinor1/.o  ^^a  t^..--,-    ____  "TT 


t  the  j%ion  where  North  America  and  Europe  approach 


1  8 


54 


CHURCHES.— SCHOOL-HOUSES. 


[Ohap.  IV 


each  other,  the  proportion  of  plants  specifically  common  to  the 
two  continents  is  constantly  on  the  increase  ;  whereas  in  passing 
to  the  more  southern  states  of  the  Union,  we  find  almost  every 
indigenous  species  to  be  distinct  from  European  plants. 

Although  the  nights  are  cold,  the  sun  at  mid-day  is  very  hot, 
the  contrast  of  temperature  in  the  course  of  each  twenty-four 
hours  being  great,  like  that  of  the  summer  and  winter  of  this 
climate. 

We  journeyed  on  over  very  tolerable  roads  without  paying 
turnpikes,  one  only,  I  am  told,  being  established  in  all  Maine. 
The  expenses  of  jnaking  a)tid  repairing  the  highways  are  defrayed 
by  local  taxes,  a  surveyor  being  appointed  for  each  district.  We 
went  through  the  villages  of  Gorham,  Standish,  Baldwin,  Hiram, 
and  Bloomfield,  to  Conway,  and  then  began  to  enter  the  mount- 
ains, the.  scenery  constantly  improving  as  we  proceeded.  Here 
and  there  we  saw  Indian  com  cultivated,  but  the  summer  of 
Maine  and  Nev^  Harbpshire  is  often  too  sl^ort  to  bring  this  grai4 
to  maturity. 

Usually,  in  a  single  village,  we  saw  three,  four,  or  five 
churches,  each  representmg  a  different  denomination;  the  Con- 
gregationalists,  Baptists,  Methodists,  and  now  and  then,  though 
more  rarely,  the  Unitarians.  Occasionally,  in  some  quiet  spot 
where  two  village  roads  cross,  we  saw  a  small,  simple  building, 
and  learned  that  it  was/the  free  or  common  school  provided  by 
law,  open  to  all,  not^p^epted  as  a  bounty,  but  claimed  as  a  rig)»t, 
where  the  children  of  rich  and  poor,  high  and  low,  and  of  every 
sect,  meet  upon  perfect  equality.  It  is  a  received  political  maxim 
here,  that  society  is  bound  to  provide  education,  as  weU  as  security 
of  life  and  property,  for  all  its  members. 

One  evening,  as  we  were  drawing  near  to  a  straggling  village, 
in  the  twilight,  we  were  recommended  by  a  traveler,  whom  we 
had  met  on  the  road,  to  take  up  our  quarters  at  a  temperance 
hotel,  where,  he  said,  «'  there  would  be  no  loafers  lounging  and 
drinking  drams  in  the  bar-room."  We  looked  out  for  the  sign; 
and  soon  saw  it,  surmounted  by  a  martin-house  of  four  stories, 
each  diminishing  in  size  from  the  bottom  to  the  top,  but  all  the 
^pttflments  now^mply,^Hi^  IhxOm  hayli^tsken  %hT,"warnecri5y 


Chap.  IV.] 


TEMPBBANOB  HOTEL. 


55 


iVjf5* 


the  late  frost.  We  had,  indeed,  been  struck  with  the  dearth  of 
the  feathered  tribe  in  Maine  at  this  season,  the  greater  nuinber 
of  birds  being  migratory.  As  soon  as  our  carriage  stopped  at 
the  door,,  we  were  ushered  by  the  host  and  his  wife  into  a  small 
parlor,  where  we  found  a  blazing  wood  fire.  It  was  their  private 
sitting-room  at  times,  when  they  had  no  guests,  and  on  the  table  ^ 
were  books  on  a  variety  of  subjects,  but  most  of  them  of  a  reli- 
gious or  serious  character,  as  Bishop  Watson's  Apology  in  reply 
to  Tom  Paine.  We  saw,  also,  a  treatise  on  Phrenology,  styled 
•»  The  only  True  Philosophy,"  and  Shakspeare,  and  the  poems 
of  Cowper  and  Walter  Scott.  In  each  window  were  placed  two 
chairs,  not  ready  to  be  occupied,  as  they  would  be  in  most  coun- 
tries, but  placed  face  to  face,  or  with  their  fronts  touching  each 
other,  the  usual  fashion  in  New  Englftnd. 

On  one  of  the  walls  was  seen,  in  a  gilt  frame,  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  with  all  the  signatures  of  the  subscribers,  sur 
rounded  by  vignettes  or  portraits  of  all  the  ten  presidents  of  the 
United  States,  from  General  Washington  to  Mr.  Tyler.  On 
another  side  of  the  room  was  a  most  formidable  likeness  of 
Daniel  Webster,  being  an  engraving  published  in  Connecticut. 
Leaning  over  the  portrait  of  the  great  statesftfiji,  is  represented 
an  aged  man  holding  a  lantern  in  lis  hand,  and,  lest  the  mean- 
ing of  so  classical  an  allusion  should  be  lost,  we  read  below.^ 

"  IMogenes  his  lanWn  needs  no  more, 
^n  honest  man  isi  found,  the  search  is  o'er." 

While  supper  was  preparing,  I  turned  over  a  heap  of  news- 
papers, of  various  shades  of  politics.  One  of  them  contained  a 
spirited  reply  to  the  leading  article  of  an  extreme  democri^tic 
journal,  which  had  enlarged  on  a  favorite  text  of  the  popular 
party,  ««The  whole  of  Oregon  is  ours."  In  another  I  saw,  in 
large  type,  «  The  continent,  the  whole  continent  down  to  the 
isthmus^;"  so  that,  before  Texas  is  yet  fairly  annexed,  the 
imagination  of  the  «« more  territory"  ^zealots  has  incorporated  all 
Mexico,  if  not  Central  America,  into  the  Union.  In  the  obitu- 
aries  were  recorded,  as  usual,  the  natti6s  of  several  "  revolution  nry 

»»ij: _n r-T    :'y:i'. — "Jt — ' i — v — "; —    -  -  -    .-,^^_ ...  -  -.--—~z-.:::iz=z.j^ 


■'M 


aowiers,"  aged  eighty-five  and  ninety,  and  I  spent  spme  minutes 


.).# 


'ly:^  ryw^!¥^^      ^  J^ 


■•■^f*. 


"*<*>'-. 


i«H  ,^;^.'j.^JgJ.p»|»J..*^^^^J>^ 


56 


PBOVINCIAL  NEWSPAPERS. 


[Chap.  IV. 


in  wo^dermg  why  they  who  fought  for  republican  independence 
%ad  been  bo  fitequently  rewarded  with  longevity,  till  it  occurred 
to  me  that,  he  who  took  the  field  before  1776  could  not  die  a 
juVenile  in  1845.     Am^ong  other  electioneering  addressee,  I  read 
the  foUowing :  "Fellow  democrats,  the  Philistines  are  mpon  us, 
the  whigs  are  striving  to  sow  dissension  in  our  ranks,  but  our, 
object  must  be  to  place  in  the  senate  a  sterling  democrat,"  &c 
Such  an  appeal  to  electors  whd  are  to  fill  up  a  vacancy  i^  the 
moreconservative  branch  of  the  Congress  at  Washington,  is  auf- 
ficlenrtly  startling  to  an  Englishman.     Another  article,  headed, 
"Henry  Clay,  President  for  1848,"  seemed  a  most  premature  , 
anticipation  of  a  future  and  distant  contest,  Mr.  Polk  having  just 
been  chosen  for  the  next-four  years  as  first  magistrate,  after  many 
months  of  excitement  and  political  turmoil.-  Yet,  upon  the  whole, 
the  provincial  newspapers  appear  to  me  to  abound  in  useful  and 
mstructive  matter,  mth  many  well-selected  extracts  from  modem 
pubUcations,  espeoiaUy  travels,  abstracts  of  lectures  on  temperance 
or  literary  and  scientific  subjects,  letters  on  agricultul^,  or  some 
point  of  political^  economy  or  commercial  legislation.     iSven  in 
party  politics,  the  cheapness  of  the  innumerable  daily  ahd  weekly 
papers  enables  every  viUager  to  read  what  is  saCon  more  than 
one  side  of  each  question,  and  this  has  a  tendenby  to  make  the 
multitude  think  for  themselves,  and  becornL^ell  informed  on 
public  afiairs.  ^.fW' 

We  happened  to  be  the  only  stran||r8  in  the  tavern,  and 
when  supper  was  brought  in  by  the  landlord  and  his  wife,  they 
sat  down  beside  us,  begged  us  to  feel4t  home,  pressed  us  to  eat, 
^  and  evidently  considered  us  moro  4  the  light  of  guests  whon) 
^  they  must^tertain  hospitably,  t^an  as  customers.     Our  hostess, 
uv<g^^9««|^ho  had  a  number  of  young  chUdren  and  no  nurse 
i*9.f?^  "*^''^*>  willing  to  put  herself  to  some  inoonvenience 
rather  than  run  the  risk  of  our  feeling  lonely.     Their  manneni 
were  pleasmg,  and,  when  they  learned  that  we  were  from  En- 
gland, they  asked  many  questions  about  the  fioe-kirk  movement 
m  Scotland,  and  how  fiir  the  system  of  national  education  there 
differed  from  that  in  Prussia,  on  which  the  landlord  had  been 
rending  an  irticle  in  a  magaaiae.     They  wieie  greatly  amused 


-'^. 


^W^'*^^!»^ 


1  I  \imi»i»-  1 


r^f. 


Chap.  IV.]     INTBLLIGBWOB  OF  NEW  EN0I*1NDERS. 

^mimt^mmwi  >m  ■hikiihw  iimiw mi  i  h "'^"''''''"^^'■W».--i'   I'lU^WI  W  >■^^)W;.)|J■_Jrf.^r,^^l  IPIH  Jia|iUL>llWl»iU'tgiijaiML^Wiiim  1^ 


Ml 


'\ 


when  I  told  them  that  some  of  th©  patriots  «f  their  State  had 
betiay:ed  to  me  no  slight  sensitiveoeee  and  indignation  about  an 
expression  imputed  to  Lord  Palmersfon  in  a  jec«nt  debate  ^n  the 
Canadian  border-feud,  when  he  spoke  oi  "the  tvUd  people  of 
Maine."  .  ' 

They  were  moat  ourioua  to  learn  the  names  of  the  rocks  and 
plants  we  had  collected,  and  told  us  that  at  the  &ee-echool  they  * 
had  been  taught  tihie  dements  of  geology  and  botany.      They  in- 
formed us  that  in  these  rural  distaricts,  many  who  teach  in  the 
winter  months  spend  the  money  they  receive  for  their  salary  in  - 
educating  themselves  in  some  college  during  the  remainder  of 
the  year  ;  so  that  a  clever  youth  may  in  this  way  rise  from  the 
humWest  station  to  the  bar  or  pulpit,  olr  become  a  teacher  in  a 
large"  wn.     Farm  laborers  in  the  State,  besides  being  boarded 
and  found  in  clothes,  receive  ten  dollars,  or  two  guineas,  a  month 
wages,  out  of  Which  they  may  save  and  "  go  west,"  an  expression 
every  where  equivalent  to  bettering  one's  eonditionw     "  The  pros- 
pect of  heaven  itself,"  says  Cooper,  in  one  of  his  noveis,  '•  would 
have  no  charms  for   an  American   of  the   back-woods,  if   he 
thought  there  was  any  place  farther  west."     . 

I  remarked  that  most  of  the  farmers  and  laborers  had  pale 
complexions  and  a  care-worn  look.  '« This  was  owing  partly," 
said  ih»  landlord,  ♦'  to  the  climate,  for  many  were  consumptive, 
and  <iie  changes  from  intente  heat  to  great  cold  a?e  excessiVe 
here;  and  partly  to  the  ambitious,  striving  character  of  the 
natives,  who  are  not  content  to  avoid  poverty,  but  expect,  and 
not  without  reason,  to  end  their  days  in  a  static^  far  above  that 
from  which  they  start."  We  were  struck  with  the  almost  en- 
tire absence  of  the  negro  race  in  Maine,  the  winter  «f  this  State 
being  ill  suited  to  them.  The  free  blacks  are  in  great  part 
paupers,  and  supported  by  the  poor  laws.  We  fell  in  with  a 
few  parties  of  itinerant  Indians,  roaming  about  the  country  like 
our  gipsies. 

Resuming  our  journey,  we  stopped  at  an  inn  where  a  gr^t 

many  mechanics  boarded,  taking  three  meals  a  day  at  the  ordi- 

JUUlLJlTh^were  well  drottod,  but  their  eearse^ihtHigh  ^^eait> 

hands  announced  their  ordinary  occupation.    After  dinner  several 


M 


DIVISION  t)F  PROPERTY. 


[Chap.  IV. 


of  them  went  into  the  drawing-room,  where  some  «« ladies"  of 
their  own  class  were  playing  on  a  piano-forte;  other  mechanics 
were  reading  newspapers  and  boiks,  but  after  a  short  stay  they 
.  all  returned  to  their  work.  On  looking  at  the  books  they  had 
laid  down,  I  found  that  one  was  ©'Israeli's  "  Coningsby,"  an- 
other  Burns'  Poems,  and  a  third  an  article  just  reprinted  from 
Frazer's  Magazine,  on  "  the  Policy  of  Sir  Robert  Peel." 

As  we  passed  through  Conway,  seeing  there  was  but  one 
meetmg-house,  I  asked  to  what  denomination  it  belonged.     The 
reply  was,  "  Orthodox."     I  went  on  to  say  that  the  place  seemed 
to  bd  thriving.     My  informant  replied,  with  evident  satisfaction, 
"Yes,  and  every  man  here  is  his  own  tenant,"  meaning  that  they 
aU  owned  the  houses  and  lands  they  occupied.     To  be  a  lessee,  in- 
deed, of  a  farm,  where  acres  may  be  bought  so  cheap,  is  a  rare 
deception  to  the  general  rule  throughout  the  United   States 
rhe  approach  to  an  equal  subdivision  of  property  among  children, 
^not  the  result  here  of  a  compulsory  law,  as  m  France,  but  of 
custom ;  and  I  was  surpksed  to  find  how  much  the  partition  is 
modified,  according  to  the  individual  views  of  the  testator.    I  was 
assured,  indeed,  by  persons  on  whose  authority  I  could  depend 
^at  in  mne  cases  out  of  ten  the  small  working  farmers  in  New 
^ngland  do  not  leave  their  property  in  equal   shares  to  their 
children,  as  the  law  would  distribute  it  if  they  died  intestate. 
It  w  very  common,  for  example,  to  leave  the  sons  twice  as  much 
as  the  da^ghteiB,  and  frequently  to  give  tiie  eldest  ion  the  land 
requinng  him  to  pay  smaU  legacies  to  the  others.     In  the  case 
ot  one  of  my  acquaintances,  where  the  sons  had  larger  shares 
than  the  daughters,  it  was  provided,  that  if  one  of  the   two 
brothers  died,  the  other  should  take  aU  his  share.     As  a  general 
rule,  the  larger  the  estate  the  greater  is  the  inequality  of  partition 
among  the  chUdren.     When  I  inquired  into  the  manner  in  which 
the  twelve  or  fourteen  largest  fortunes,  such  as  would  rank  as 
considerable  in  England,  had  been  bequeathed  in  Boston  and  its 
^cinity.  and  in  New  York,  I  was  astonished  to  learn  that  none 
of  them  had  been  left  in  equal  shares  among  the  children  by  men 
01  Jinglish  descent,  the  one  and  only  exception  being  that  of  a 
ArgnchmarL     Tn  thft  mnra  newly  sottlod  Btatw,  ihenririiwriir- 


Chap.  IV.]  EVERY  MAN  HIS  OWN  TENANT. 


59 


Equality  in  ^  distribution  both  of  real  and  personal  property  ; 
but  this  is  doubtless  in  np  small  degree  connected  with  the  more 
moderate  size  of  the  fortunes  there.  The  ideas  entertained  in 
some  of  these  ruder  parts  of  the  country,  of  the  extreme  destitu- 
tion ofrthe  youiiger  children  of  aristocratic  families  in  Grreat 
Britain,  are  often  most  mistaken  and  absurd ;  though  particular 
instances  in  Scotland,  springing  out  of  the  old  system  of  entails, 
may  hare  naturally  given  rise  to  erroneous  generahzations.  It 
was  evident  to  me  that  few,  if  any,  of  these  critics,  had  ever  re- 
garded primogeniture  as. an  integral  portion  of  a  great  political 
system,  wholly  different  from  their  own,  the  merits  of  which  can 
not  fairly  be  tried  by  a  republican  standard. 

Both  in  New  England  and  in  the  State  of  New  York,  I  heard 
many  complaints  of  the  inadequacy  of  the  capital  belonging  to 
small  landed  propri^rt^  make  their  acres  yield  the  greatest 
amount  of  producjH^  the  least  expenditure  of  means.     They 
are  often  so  crip{||PM:h  debt  and  mortgages,  paying  high  in- 
terest, that  they  can  not  introduce  many  improvements  in  agri- 
culture, of  which  they  are  by  no  means  ignorant.  ^   Nevertheless, 
the  farmers  here  constitute  a  body  of  resident  yeomen,  industrious 
and  intelligent ;  absenteeism  being  ahnost  unktiown,  owing  to  the 
great  difBoulty  of  letting  farms,  and  the  owners  being '»Bpread- 
equally  over  the  whole   country,  to  look  after  the   roads  and 
village-schools,  and  to  see  that  there  is  a  post-office  even  in  each 
remote  mountain  hamlet.      The  pride  and  satisfaction  felt  by  men 
who  till  the  land  which  is  their  own,  is,  moreover,  no  small  ad- 
vantage, although^one  which  a  pohtical  economist,  treating  solely 
of  the  production  of  wealth,  may  regard  as  lyutg  out  of  his  prov- 
vinoe.    As  a  make-weight,  however,  in  our  estimate  of  the  amount 
of  national  happiness  derived  from  landed  property,  it  is  not  to  be 
despised;  and  where  "every  man  is  his  own  tenant,"  as  at  Con- 
way, the  evils  of  short  leases,  of  ejectments  on  political  grounds, 
or  disputes  about  poaching  and  crimes  connected  with  the  game- 
Ikws  are  unknown. 

After  passing  Conway,  we  had  fairiy  entered  the  mountains 
of  New  Hampshire,  and  enjoyed  ■gme  rambles  over  the  hilla. 


U 


wUhlfie  sound  5r  rushing  torrents  and  the  wildness  of 


m 


f'ORESTS.— 3BABS. 


[Chap.  TV., 


^e  scenery.     I  had  sometimes  ^remarked  in,  Norway  that  the 
hirch  trees  are  so  e^uaUy  intermixed  with  dark  pines,  as  to  im- 
part, by  the  contrast  of  colors,  a  spotted  appearance  to  the  woods 
not  always  picturesque  ;  ||^t  here  I  saw  the  dark  green  hemlock 
in  one  place,  and  the  mapIS,  with  their  brilliant  autumnalfoliage 
m  another,  grouped  ^in  such  masses  on  the  steep  slopes  of  the  hiUs 
as  to  produce  a  most  agreeable  effect;     There  were  many  birch 
trees,  with  their  white  bark,  and  oaks,  with  red  autumnal  tints, 
and  an  nndergrowth  of  kalipia  c^ut  ef  flower,  but  still  conspicuous 
by  Its  shmmg  leaves.     The  sweet  fern  (Comptoma)  nTlonger 
appeared  on  this  high  ground,  and  was  replaced  by  the  true  fern, 
called  here  "brake,"  being  our  common  English  species  (Fteri^ 
aquU^m).     Qn  the  low  hills  of  granite  were  many  huge  )^r 
fragment  of-lhat  rock,  fift^,  and  some  of  them  tw^tylS  in 
diameter,  resting  on  heaps  of  sand.     They  were  of  a  light  gr^y 
color    with  laxge  ci^stals  of  felspar,  and  reminded  Z  JZ 
^amte  of  Arran  m  «cothmd.     As  we  foUowed  the  windings  of 
the  river  Saco.  I  observed,  in  the  bottom  of  the  vaUey.  aUuvial 
terrac^   ^mpqsed  of  clay,  sand,  gravel,  and  boulderj.  forming 
tfl  different  elevations,  as  we  see  in  many  parts  of  Scotland! 
and  other  mountam  valleys  in  E#ope.  . 

Although  we  heard  much  talk  of  the  lat^  frost,  ther^  were  still< 
abuadant  signs  of  tl^siin's  power,  such  as  large  grLhopj^^ 
with  ,ed  wmgs.  called  here  shakers,  and  tortoises  ( rL^^^^ 
wandermg  from  one  pond  to  another.     In  the  retiied  paths  Wny 
sqmrrek  aUowed  us  to  pass  very  near  to  theip  wiSn^ut  S 

ttT  f  J^V^'^f  «'»<^«  extended.lU  the  t«av«r.  over  t^ 
whole  of  New  England ;  but  the  beaver  ha.  been  e4ery  where 
extirpated,  and  the  bear  driven  into  the  mountains.  F^Z^^ 
retreats  th^y  stiU  mdke  amiual  depredation,  on  the  fields  of  Indian 

th^;  ^fl  J  K  ^"Tf  J:«*-^^^  ^^^  only  by  thimiing  them  with 
their  nfl«B,  but^y  takmg  what  some  sportsmen  wjuld  consider 
a  very  uitfair  advantage  over  them.  On  the  first  spring-like  da^  ^ 
Brum,  who  has  been  hybemating  for  seVeral  monthlThi  a  cave 
ventures  out.  before  the  snow  ha^  quite  melted,  to  take  a  look  ai 
the  country ;  then  retire,  again  to  his  hiding  pWe,  which  the 
hunty  diyovers^following  hi,  foot  trnnbToa  the  Z^  ^g 


^li^n. 


"  ■*'t^''i'^> 


WlLtEY  SLIDE. 


^1 


hole..    Near  Barilett  I  vna  taken  to  ae^  the 
skeleton  of.  a  bear  that  had  been  lately  killed.     The  iarmers  told 
me  that  the  racoons  do  much  damage  here,  by  deyoorin^  the"In- 
dian  conr.but  the  opossum  dobs  not  extend  so  &r  to  the  north. 
'■    On  the  second  day  after  leaving  Conway  we  entered  a  wild, 
and  narrow  mountain  pass,  with  steep  declivities  on  both,  sides, 
where  the  hills  can  not  be  less  than  1000  or  1^00  feet  in  vertical 
height.     Here  the  famous  landslip,  called  the  Willey  Slide,  oc- 
curred in  Aijgustr  1826.     The  avdandhe  of  earth,  stones,  and 
trees  occurring  aftw  heavy  rains,  was  so  sudden,  that  it  over- 
whelmed all  the  Willey  family,  niae  in  number,  who  would  havtf 
escaped  had  they  remained  in.  their  humble  dwelling;  for,  just 
above  it,^e  jnuddy  torrent  Was  divided  into  two  branches'by  a 
projecting  rock.     The  day  after  the  catastrophe  a  candle  was 
found  on  ike  table  of  their  deserted  roomj  burnt  down  to  the 
socket,  and  the  Bible  lying  open  beside  it. 

I  was  curious  to  examine  the  effects  of  this  and  other  slid^fc 
of  the  same  date  in  the  White  Mountains,  to  ascertain  what  efifect 
the  passage,  of  mud  and  heavy  stones  might  have  ha^  in  furro\t^. 
ing  tlie  hard  surfaces  of  bared  rocks  over  w^ich  they  had  passed  ; 
it  havijig  been  a  matter  of  controversy  amo%  geologists,  how  far 
those  straight  rectilinear  grooves  and  scratched  J)efore  aJljided  to,* 
might  have  been  the  wsult*  of  glacial  action,  or  whether  tlAy  can 
be  accounted  fcr  by  assuming  that  dfeluges  of  mud^  and  heavy 
stones  have  swept  over  th«  dry  land.     A  jfiner  opportunity  pf 
testing  the  adequacy  of  the  cause  last  mentioned  can  not  be  c^in-  ' 
ceived  than  is  afforded  by  th^je  hiUs ;  for,  in  consequence,  appar- . 
ently,  of  the  jomted  structure  of  the  rocks  and  ih6ir  decoippbsition 
produced  by  great  variations  of  temperature  (for  tliey  are  subjected 
to  mtense  summer  he^t  and  winter's  cdld  in  th^  course  of  the 
year),  there  is  always  a  considerable  mass  of  superficial  detritmi 
ready  to  be  detached  during  Vtry  heavy  rains,  even  where  the 
.steep  slopes  are  covered  with  timber,     ^uch  avalanches  begin 
Irohi  smaU  points,  and,  after  descending,  a  few  hundred  yards,  cut 
mto  the  mountain  side  a  deep  trench,  wMch  becomes  riipidiy( 
broader  and  deeper,  and  thev  bear  down  h»fn.»  *^..^  thn  Inftintf 
V  ♦  Ant©,  p.  18. 


"\| 


*'«(,A>..;i. 


69 


o—L. 


SCRATCHES  AND  GROOVES  ON  ROCIKS.     [Chap.  IV. 


"  trees,  and  the  ^1  in  which  they  are  rooted.  Some  of  these 
masses  have  slid  two  or  tliree  mUes,  with  an  average  breadth  of 
a  quarter  of  a, mile ;  and  so  large  axe  th©  rock]^  fragments,  that  1 
found  some  of  them,  which  came  .down  in  the  Willey  Slide,  to 
measure  from  fourteen  to  twenty  feet  in  diameter.  I  also  ascer- 
trined  that  the  steep  slopes  of  bare  rock  over  which  they  had 
passed,  were  inclined,  in  some  instances,  at  angles  of  twenty  to 
thirty  degrees  mth  the  horizon.  After  clambering  up  more  than 
400  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Saco,  on  its  right  bank,  I  reached 
a  space  of  naked  rock,  fifteen  feet  square,  over  which  my -guide, 
the  elder  Crawford,  told  me  that  the  whol^  contents  of  the  Willey 
Slide  had  swept  in  182^;  which  was  indeed  evident,  for  it  lay 
in  the  direct  line  of  the  great  trench  cut  through  thh  forest  above 
and  below. 

There  is  a  small  cataract  at  the  spot,  where  a  dyke  of  basalt 
and  greenstone,  four  or  five  feet  wide,  traverses  the  granite,  all 
the  rocks  bemg  smoothed  on  the  surface,  and  marked  with  some 
inregular  and  short  scratches  and  grooves ;  but  not  such  ja  re- 
semble in  continuity,  straightness,  or  paralleli^nj,  those  produced 
by  a  glacier,  where  liard  stones,  which  grate  along  the  bpttom, 
have  been  firmly  fixed  in  a  heavy  mass  of  ice,  so  that  they  can 
not  be  deflected  from  a  rectilinear  course. 

I  am  aware  that  glaciers  and  icebergs  are  not  the  only  means 
by  which  the  grooving- and  polishing  of  the  faces  of  rocks  may 
be /caused  ;  for  similar  eflects  may  arise  on  the  sides  of  fissures 
where  stony  masses  have  been  rent  asunder,  and  moved  upward 
and  downward,  or  made  to  vibrate  during  earthquakes,  so  that 
the  opposite  walls  are  rubbed  against  each  other.  But  we  can 
not  attribute  to  this  cause  the  superficial  markings  now  commonly 
referred  to  glacial  action  in  Europe  and  North  America ;  and 
what  I  saw  at  th^  Willey  Slide,  and  other  places  in  the  White 
Mountains,  convinced  me  that  a  semi-fluid  mass  of  mud  and 
stones  must  always  have  too  much  freedom  of  motion,  and  is  too 
easily  turned  aside  by  every  obstacle  and  inequality  in  the  shape 
of  the  rocky  floor,  to  enable  it  to  sculpture  out  long  and  straight 
Arrows. 


tTH5«nfie~WiIIey  Mde  we  c6n^ued~pur  way  along  the.bot- 


--v^ 


fi^ffs^i^mfif^fisfP'^^^" 


h  > 


Om.  IV.j 


FOREST  TREBS. 


63 


torn  of  the  narrow  valley  of  the  Saco,  listening  with  pleasure  to 
the  river  as  it  foamed  and  roared  over  its  Btony  bed,  and  admir- 
ing two  water-falls,  broken  into  sheets  of  white  foam  in  their  de- 
scent.    The  scene  became  more  grand  as  we  entered  the  defile 
called  the  Notch,  where,  although  the  sun  was  high,  the  lofty 
crags  threw  dark  shadows  across  our  path.     On  either  hand  were 
wild  an,d  nearly  perpendicular  precipices,  the  road,  on  the  side 
overhanging  the  Saco,  being  usually  protected,  by  parapets  of 
stone  or  timber.    *A  steep  ascent  led  us  up  to  a  kind  of  pass  or 
water-shed,  where  there^was  an  inn  kept  by  one  of  the  Crawford 
family,  well  known  in  this  region,  Ivhich  reminded  me  of  some 
of  those  hotels  perched  in  similar  wild  situations  in  the  Alps,  as 
on  the  Simplon  and  Grimsel.     We  learned  that  snow  had  fallen 
here  in  the  second  week  of  September,  and  the  higher  hills  had 
been  whitened  for  a  time ;  but  they  are  now  again  uncovered 
Already  the  elevation  has  produced  a  marked  change  in  the  veg- 
etation— ^tho  hemlock,  the  sprutfe,  the  balm  of  Gilead  fir  [Pihus 
balsamea),  and  the  white  pine,  beginning  to  form,  with  the  birch, 
a,  large  proportion  of  the  forest  trees.     The  white  pine,  called  in 
England  the  Weymouth  pine  ^Pinus  strobm),  is  the  most  mag- 
nificent in  size.     It  sometimes  attains  a  diarheter  of  five  feet,  and 
a  height  of  1 50  feet,  both  here  and  in  other  parts  of  New  Hamp- 
shire and  Maine ;  but  it  is  very  rare  to  meet  with  such  trees 
now,  the  finest  having  been  burnt  down  in  the  great  fires  which 
have^every  where  devastated  the  woods.     I  observed  tk'e  boughs 
of  the  spruce  hung  with  a  graceful  white  lichen,  called  Old 
Man's  Beard  ( Ustwa  barbata),  a  European  species.     The  com- 
mon fern  (Pteris  a^uilina),  now  covers  the  moist  ground  under 
the  dark  shade  of  the  woji^s,  and  all  the  rotting  trunks  of  fallen 
trees  are  matted  over  with  a  beautiful  green  carpet  of  mbss, 
formed  almost  entirely  of  the  feathery  leavfes  of  one  of  the  ihost 
elegant  of  the  tribe,  also  occurring  in  Scotland  (Hypnum  Crista 
castrensis).     Several  kinds  of  club  moss  (Lycopodium),  which, 
like  the  Hypnum,  were  in  full  fructification,  form  also  a  con- 
spicuous part  of  the  herbage ;   especially  one  species,  standing 
erect  like  a  minintnrft  ti-ftA,  i»V>*i^oo  \\f^  njnw,  /,.  dmdioidc 


from  six  to  eight  inches  high, 


•^  ^mk<>^^  hf^i"' 


.     4aSL--«:^lSt&^i^    i..i       ■*»*.  ^-kt^A 


-lf^,l 


■•>Te-y»s,'W»''i' 


5?.''»«v')ai^^»*s  -rtf,-  rwi-z^fiyf^f 


r* 


Si 


MOUNiTAIN  PLANT9--E0H0.       »       t9f4?,|l!. 


/^?tJ  T^''^^  still  fordier  mto  tlw  mountain.,  we  es- 
fablished  ourselves  in  pteasait  quarters  for  several  days  at  Fa- 
byau  s  Hotel,.:tyjt*iwp  miles  from  Conway,  waitij^  for  fine 
weather  to  ascenf%ount  Washington.  Whenever  the  rain 
ceased  for  a  few  hours  we  explored  the  lower  hills,  and  were  fp^ 
tunate  enough  to  have,  as  a  companion  in  our  walks,  o^e  of  t8« 
ablest  botanists  in  America,  Mr.  William  Oakes,*  of  Ipswich, 
Ma^husetts  who  is  preparing  for  pul^lication  a  fine  work  on 
the  Flora  of  the  White  Mountains.  In  one  of  our  excur*ions 
with  him  to  see  the  &]ls  of  the  river  Amoonosuc.  he  showed  us 
several  places  where  the  Lin^um  boreaUs  was  growing,  now  in 

iT.;  u  .       ^^  *^'  P^*""*  ^°  ^^^'  ^  ^o'^*  ^'^ti*  in  July, 
i '     .  T"  "^^  IP'^P^^^^  to  find  it  extending  sTmuoh  fiirther 
southwaxd.  havin^-first  known  it  as  characteristic  of  Norway, 
and  of  great  Alpme  heights  in  Europe.     But  I  waa  stiU  more 
surprised  when  I  learned,  from  Mr.  Oakes.  that  it  descends  even 
into  the  wooded  plains  of  New  Hampshire,  under  favor  of  a  long 
wmter  and  of  summer  fogs,  near  the  sea.     What  is  most  singu- 
lar.  between  Manchester  and  Cape  Ar^ne,  lat  42°  SflLN    it  in 
habits  the  same  swamp  with  the  Magnolia  glauca.  ^'arctic 
Z.tnnan,  traihng  along  the  ground  and  protected  from  the  sun 
by  a^ma^noha.  afibrds  a  curious  example  of  the  meeting  of  two 
plants  of  genera  characteristic  of  very  different  latitudes,  each  on 
the  extreme  bmits  of  its  northern  or  southern  range 

One  evening,  during  pur  stay  here,  we  ^lyoyed  listening  to  the 
finest  mountam  echo  I  ever  heard.  Our  host.  Fabyan.  played  a 
lew  clear  notes  on  a  horn,  which  were  distinctly  repeated  five-^ 
times  by  Jhe  echo,  in  softened  and  melodious  tones.  The  third 
repetition,  although  coming  of  course  from  a  greater  distance,  ' 
.  was  louder  than  tlie  two  first,  which  had  a  beautiful  effect,  and 
may  be  caused  either  by  the  concave  form  of  the  rocks  being 
more  favorable  to  the  irelaection  of  sound,  or  from  the  place  where 
we  stood  W.  in  reference  to  that  distant  spot,  more  exactly  in 
f^^gglg^.  ellipse.  "^  "* 

In  wim^bd  plain  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains  at  Fabyan'i 
.*^^°o«  "^ting  the  abave,  I  have  heaid.  with 


^^mvaMiiff^mAvao<mptmeSimim^ 


4g»P  njgral^  of  the  dea^ 


■•.' 


Chap.  IV.} 


THE  GHANTSGRAVB. 


there  is  a  long  superficial  ridge  of  gravej,  sand,  and  boulders, 
having  the  same  appearance  as  those  mounds  which  are  termed 
"  osar"  in  Sweden.  Jt  is  a  conspicuous  object  on  the  plain,  and  " 
is  called  the  Giant's  Grave ;  but  in  general  such  geological  ap- 
pearances as  are  usually  referred  to  the  glacial  or  ♦«  drift"  period 
are  rare  in  these  mountainis;  and  I  looked  in  v«iin  for  glacial 
flirrows  and  strise  on  a  broad  surface  of  smooth  granite  recently 
exposed  on  the  banks  of  the  Saco,  in  a  pit  where  gravel  had  been 
taken  out  for  the  repair  of  the  road.  How  far  the  rapid  decom- 
position of  the  grani]te  rocks,  owing  to  the  vast  range  of  annual 
temperature,  may  have  destroyed,  in  this  high  region,  any  mark- 
ings originaUy  imprinted  on  their  surface,  deserves  consideration. 


H        'i 


'Mr- 


--.ji^^^.!; 


^8^f  f  '0'  -«J    ^**"^       ta         '^''VT  ^  -^  I 


CHAPTEE  V. 

.      from  ImXiSS;;;!™  of  E'f  ''"^'"'  ?'T  "»  8>™>"i«-vC 

mit  of  Mount  WaahiMton      l^Vu  T  i  "^  ""  **  "™- 

h«  been  ^ropped^TW^^tt  A^r.s:^;''!^'^'^'""'' 
r.e8.  It,  summit  «  6225  feet  aWe  S  leXf  ^  7  "'Ti 
we  were  congratuUted  on  the  prosp^t  rf  S^^if'T  J  ,""• 
season,  entirely  free  from  «««,«      rT  ""^ing  it,  at  so  late  a 

»ountU  on  l^.^  ZL^Z  Cerf^en/""^'  "^ 
h«  wife,  tourists  from  Maine,  a  yoZ  N^^n^l!  f  ^"f  ""* 
«elf,  my  wife,  and  three  guid;,       ^  ^'*'""^  *'*"*•  "y  , 

and^w^ti^rtrretrtdrmrrir  nr»- 

aarrow  winding  path.,  often  croZ^  »T^^7  L'W 
a.e«me  torrent,  and  fording  its  waLs,  whTh^^iS  in  '  i J 
of  Ae  late  rains  a  smaU  part  of  their  channel.         ^     '       '^  ^ 

te«  and  S.  painfracea)  ;  also  the  rock  or  sueifm^-  /T' 
■  clmri,mm).  and  the  red  marfe  (A  fX^^\fl^^    ^^"^  '^■ 
tints  of  every  color,  from  or^  to^'L^^'^Tf  """^^ 
«.  purple,     m  undergrowth  ta.  oS^p^W^'s^"^! 


t 
V 


'wirps^pt;.?- »,->*'  t«--r  "'/''»'-;■  'f5f»W}».  ••i^-^^,^f 


Chap  V.] 


VEGETATION.— DWARF  FIRS. 


«f 


rose  (  Vibitmum  latitanoides),  the  Mexican  laurustinuB,  and  the 
Bervice-tree  {Sorbus  americana),  with  Acer  montamim  and  Acer 
striatum.  On  the  ground  we  saw  the  beautiful  dwarf  dogwood 
[Cornus  canadensis,  still  in  flower,  also  the  fruit  of  the  averin, 
or  cloud-berry,  here  called  mulberry  (Ruhis  chamcemorus),  well 
known  on  the  Grampians,  and  the  wood-sorrel  {Oxalis  acetosella), 
in  great  quantity,  with  Gatdtheria  hispidtda.  There  were 
many  large  prostrate  trees  in  various  stages  of  decay,  and  out  of 
their  trunks  young  fir-saplings,  which  had  taken  root  on  the  bark, 
we're  seen  growing  erect. 

We  put  up  very  few  birds  as  we  rode  along,  for  the  woods 
are  much  deserted  at  this  season.  A  small  lapwing,  with  a 
note  resembling  the  English  species,  flew  up  from  some  marshy 
ground ;  and  we  saw  a  blue  jay  and  a  brown  woodpecker  among 
the  trees,  and  occasionally  a  small  bird  like  a  tomtit  (Parws 
atrocapillm).  I  picked  up  one  land-shell  only  (Helix  thyoides), 
and  was  surprised  at  the  scarcity  of  air-breathmg  testacea  here 
and  elsewhere  in  New  England,  where  there  is  so  vigorous  a 
vegetation  and  so  much  summer  heat.  The  absence  of  lime  in 
the  granitic  rocks  is  the  chief  cause ;  but  even  in  the  calcareous 
districts  these  shells  are  by  no  means  as  plentiful  as  in  correspond- 
ing latitudes  in  Europe. 

When  we  had  passed  through  this  lowest  belt  of  wood  the 
clouds  cleared  away,  so  that,  on  looking  back  to  the  westward, 
we  had  a  fine  view  of  the  mountains  of  Vermont  and  the  Camel's 
Hump,  and  were  the  more  struck  with  the  magnificent  extent  of 
the  prospect,  as  it  had  not  opened  upon  us  gradually  during  our 
ascent.  We  then  began  to  enter  the  second  region,  or  zone  of 
evergreens,  consisting  of  the  black  spruce  and  the  Finus  balsa- 
mea,  which  were  at  first  mixed  with  other  forest  trees,  all 
dwarfed  in  height,  till  at  length,  after  we  had  ascended  a  few 
hundred  feet,  these  two  kinds  of  firs  monopolized  the  entire 
ground.  They  are  extremely  dense,  rising  to  about  the  height 
of  a  man's  head,  having  evidently  been  prevented  by  the  cold 
winds  firom  continuing  their  upward  growth  beyond  the  level  at 
which  they  are  protected  by  the  snow.     All  their  vigor  seem^ 


tl 


"fc  havelieen  exerted  in  throwing  out  numerous  strong  horizontal 


^^^^^^^s^^ 


'■mp'' 


■i.'^ff 


68 


BALD  REGION. 


[Chap.  V. 


■'^ 


s.''- 


or  pendent  branches,  each  tree  covering  a  considerable  area,  and 
being  closely  interworen  with  others,  so  that  they  surround  tha 
mountain  with  a  formidable  hedge  about  a  quarter  of  a  mili» 
broad.  The  innumerable  dead  boughs,  which,  after  growing  foi 
a  time,  during  a  teries  of  milder  seasons,  to  a  greater  heiglit, 
have  then  been  killed  by  the  keen  blast,  present  a  singular  ap- 
pearance. They  are  forked  and  leafless,  and  look  like  the  antlevt 
of  an  enormous  herd  of  deer  or  elk.  This  thicket  opposed  4 
serious  olmtaole  to  those  who  &r8t  ggcended  the  mountain  thirty 
years  ago.  Dr.  Francis  Boott,  among  others,  whose  description 
of  his  ascent  in  1816,  given  to  me  in  London  several  years 
before,  made  me  resolve  one  day  to  visit  the  scene,  was  com- 
pelled, with  his  companion.  Dr.  Bigelow,  to  climb  over  the  top* 
and  walk  on  the  branches  of  these  trees,  until  they  came  to  the 
bald  region.  A  traveler  now  passes  so  rapidly  through  the  open 
pathway  cut  through  this  belt  of  firs,  that  he  is  in  danger,  while 
admiring  the  distant  view,  of  overlooking  its  peculiarities.  The 
trees  become  gradually  lower  and  lower  as  you  ascend,  till  at 
length  they  trail  along  the  ground  only  two  or  three  inches  high  ; 
and  I  actually  observed,  at  the  upper  margin  of  this  zone,  tiiat 
the  spruce  was  topped  in  its  average  height  by  the  common  rein- 
deer moss  (^Lichen  range ferinus).  According  to  Dr.  Bigelow,* 
the  upper  edge  of  the  belt  of  dwarf  firs  is  at  the  height  of  4443^ 
feet  above  the  sea.  After  crossing  it  we  emerge  into  the  bald* 
region,  devoid  of  wood,  and  had  still  to  climb  1^00  feet  highw; 
before  arriving  at  the  summit.  Here  our  long^  cavalcade,  was 
Been  zigzagging  its  way  in  single  file  up  a  ste^p  declivity  of 
naked  rock,  consisting  of  gneiss  and  mica  schist,  but  principally 
the  latter  rock  intermixed  with  much  white  quartz.  The  masses 
of  quartz  are  so  generally  overgrown  with  that  bright-col(»red 
yellowish-green  lichen,  so  common  on  the  Scotch  mountuiaMr 
{Lichen  geographicus),  that  the  whole  surface  adiwirei  *  01* 
responding  tint,  visible  firom  a  great  distance,  fes  highest 
region  is  characterized  by  an  assemblage  of  Alpi^  or  Arctic 
plants,  now  no  longer  in  flower,  and  by  a  variety  of  vJ^ffflses  and 

—  *  Seehi»«xoell«ataoootat^aaaw}Wrt  of  Mount  Wftiri^         itt  iBtC^ 
Boston  Medical  Journal,  vol.  v.  p.  321. 

■     .      .  \    ■■If . •■■;■":■■ 


"TSBp?"-'' 


Ohaf.  v.] 


ARCTIC  FLORA.  ' 


^ 


lichens  specificaUy  identical  with  those  of  Northern  Europe. 
Among  these,  we  saw  on  the  rocks^he  Parmelia  centrijuga,  a 
lichen  common  in  Sweden,  but  not  yet  met  with  in  Great  Britain, 
of  a  greenish-white  color,  which,  commencing  its  growth  from  a 
point,  gradually  spreads  on  aU  sides,  and  deserts  thd  central  space. 
It  then  assumes  an  annular  form,  and  its  reddish-brown  shields 
of  fructification,  scattered  over  the  margin,  remind  one,  though 
on  a  miniature  scale,  of  those  "  fairy  rings"  on  our  EngUsh  lawns, 
which  appear  to  be  unknown  m  America,  and  where  iungi,  or 
mushrooms  are  seen  growing  in  a  circlajl^ite^  - 

The  flora  of  the  uppermost  region  qf^HlV^ashingtoii  coff- 

^  sists  of  species  which  are  natives  of  tM^fcplkte  of  I^abrador; 

"Lapland,  Greenland,  and  Siberia,  ancH^^BEent,  says  Bige^ 

low,  of  drought,  as  well  as  of  both  eart^Srf  heat  and  cold ; 

tiiey  are  therefore  not  at  aU  fitted  to  flourish  in  the  ordinary 

^  dimate  of  Ne#  England.     But  they  are  preserved  here,  during 

™ter,  from  injury,  by  a  great  Mepth  of  siffw,  Mid  the  air  in 

«ftflmer  never  attains,  at  this  elevatibni  too  high  a  temperature, 

while  the  ground  below  is  always  cool.     When  the  snow  melts, 

they  shoot  up  instantly  with  vigor  proportiohed  to  the  length  of 

time  they  have  been  dorm^it,  rapidly  unfold  their  flowers,  and 

mature  their  fruits,  and  Buk  through  the  whole  course  of  their 

vegetation  in  a  few  weeks,  irrigated  by  clouds  and  mist. 

Among  other  Alpine  plants,  we  gathered  on  the  summit 
Menziesia  cenilea,  And.  Rhododendron  lapmicufft,  both  out  oi 
flower;  and  not  far  below.  Azalea  prommbms.  Mr.^^e6 
'  pomted  out  to  me,  in  a  rent  several  hundred  feet  above  th?Swer 
margin  of  the  bald[  region,  a  spruce  fir  growing  in  the  cleft  of  a 
i^,  where  it  was  sheltered  from  the  winds,  clearly  showing 
that  tiiB  sudden  cessktidtt  of  the  trees  does  not  arise  ffom  mere 
intensity  of  cold.  We  fouiid  no  snow  on  the  summit,  but  the 
lur  was  piercing,  and  for  a  time  we  were  enveloped  in  a  cloud 
of  dense  white  fog,  which,  sailing  past  us,  suddenly  disclos^  a 
most  bnlliant  picture.  On  the  slope  of  the  mountain  below  us, 
were  seen  woods  warmly  colored  with  their  autuninal  tints,  and 
lighted  up  by  a  bright  sun;  and  in  the  dtstanoetE  vast  rfais:- 


^SCr. 


'A 


Btretchmg  eastward  to  Portland,  with  many  sUver  lakes,  anc 


yr-i^     •  ,    3    ;  ^l^/S^^ 


TO 


MIGRATION  OF  PLANTS. 


[Ohap.  V 


beyond  these  the  ocean  and  blue  sky. ,  It  was  like  a  vision  seen  in 
the  clouds,  and  we  were  occ^^onally  reminded  of  *'  the  dissolving 
views/'  when  the  landscape  slowly  faded  away,  and  then,  in  a 
few  minutes,  as  the  fog  dispersed,  regained  its  strength  as  gradual- 
ly, till  every  feature  became  again  cle9.r  and  well  defined. 

We  at  length  returned  to  the  hotel  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening, 
much  delighted  with  our  excursion,  although  too  fktiguing  for  a 
lady,  my  wife  having  been  twelve  hours  on  horsebaok.  li  an 
inn  should  be  built  at  the  foot  of  the  motmtain,  the  exploit  will 
be-  comparativdy  an  easy  one,  and  in- a  fei^iir  years  a  railway  £rom 
Boston,  only  150  miles  distant  (100  miles  of  it  being  already 
completed),  will  enable  any  citizen  to  escape  from  the  summer 
heat,  and,  having  slept  the  first  night  at  this  inn,  enjoy,  the  next 
morning,  jf  he  is  a  lover  of  botany,  the  sight  of  a  variety  of  rare 
and  beautiful  Arctic  plants  in  full  flower,  besides  beholding  a  suk^ 
cession  of  distinct  zones  Q£r vegetation,  scarcely  surpassed  on  the 
flanks  of  Mount  Etna  or  l^e  Pyrenees. 

If  we  attempt  to  speculate  on  the  manner  in  which  the  pecu-*" 
liar  species  of  plants  now  established  on  the  highest  summits  of 
the  White  Mountains,  were  enabled  to  reach  those  isolated  spots, 
while  none  of  them  are  met  with  in  the  lower  lands  around,  or 
for  a  great  distance  to  the  north,  we  shall  find  ourselves  engaged 
in  trying  to  solve  a  philosophical  problem,  which  requires  the 
aid,  not  of  botany  alone^  but  of  geology,  or  a  knowledge  of  the 
geographical  changes  which  immediately  preceded  the  present 
state  of  the  earth's  surface.  We  have  to  explain  how  an  Arctic 
flora,  cionsisting  of  plants  specifically  identical  with  those  which 
now  inhabit  land*  bordering  the  sea  in  the  extreme  north  of 
America,  Europe,  and  Asia,  could  get  «l  the  top  of  Mounts, 
Washington.  Now  geology  teaches  uathat  the  species  living 
at  present  on  the  earth,  are  older  than  many  parts  of  our  existing  • 
oontin^ts  ;  that  is  Uiwy,  they  were  created  before  a  large  part 
of  the  existing  modWaB,  valleys,  plains,  lakes,  rivers,  and  seas 
were  formed.  ThaV  such  must  be  the  case  in  regard  to  the 
inland  of  Sicily,  I  announced  my  conviction  in  1833,  after  first 
letuming  from  that  countrJ?»  And  a  similar  conclusion  is  iio 
^'Klneiples  of  Geology,  Til 


^ 


ibin,  vol.  iii.  oliap.  9. 


A}i.'-Mi'i.i&£d\J.if:.-.-  '  ■i.v.g  .," 


i^7'»»  jf^seisP''W¥''W'-<'**i,"*?  ii?™^7!s»y|l!^<5^ 


Ohap.  v.] 


MIGBATION  OF  PLANTS. 


71 


)n  seen  m 


lion  isiio 


less  obvious  to  any  naturalist  who  has  studied  the  structure  of 
North  America,  and  obserted  the  wide  ar^a  occupied  by  the 
modern  or  glacial  deposits  before  alluded  to,*  in  which  marine 
fossil  shells  of  living  but  northern  species  are  entombed.  It  is 
clear  thlt  a  great  portion  of  Canada,  and  the  country  surround- 
ing the  great  lakes,  was  submerged  beneath  the  ocean  wHen 
recent  species  of  mollusca  flourished,  of  ^which  the  fossil  remains 
occur  more  than  500  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea  near  Mon- 
treal. I  have  already  stated  that  Lake  Champlain  was  flrfulf 
of  the  sea  at  that  period,  that  large  areas  in  Maine  were^der 
water,  and,  I  may  add,  that  the  White  Mountains  must  then 
have  constituted  an  island,  or  group  of  islands.  Yet,  as  this 
period  is  so  modem  in  the  earth's  history  as  to  belong  to  the 
epoch  of  the  existing  marine  fauna,  it  is  ikir  to  infer  that  the 
Arctic  flora  now  contemporary  with  man  was  then  also  estab- 
lished on  the  globe. 

A  careful  study  of  the  present  distribution  of  animals  and 
plants  oyer  the  globe,  has  led  nearly  all  the  best  naturalists  to 
the  opinion  that  each  species  had  its  origin  in  a  single  birth-phice, 
and  spread  gradually  from  its  original  center,  to  all  accessible 
spots  fit  for  i^s  habitation,  by  means  of  the  powers  of  migration 
given  to  it  from  the  first.  If  we  adopt  this  view,  or  the  doctrine 
of  "  specific  centers,"  there  is  no  diflGiculty  in  comprehending  how 
the  cryptogamous  plants  of  Siberia,'  Lapland,  Greenland,  and, 
Labrador  scaled  the  heights  of  Mount  Washington,  because  the 
sporules  of  the  fungi,  lichens,  and  mosses  may  be  wafted  through 
the  air  for  indefinite  distances,  like  smoke ;  and,  in  fact,  heavier 
particles  are  actually  known  to  have  been  carried  for  thousands 
of  miles  by  the  wind.  But  the  cause  of  the  occurrence  of  Arctic 
plante  of  the  phasmgamom  class  on  the  top  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire mo^ntains,  specifically  identical  with  those  otremote  Polar 

"regions,  is  by  no  means  so  obvious.  They  could  not,  in  tlie 
present  condition  of  the  earlh,  efiect  a  passage  over  the  inter- 
vening low  lands,  because  the  extreme  heat  of  summer  and  cold 
of  winter  would  be  fatal  to  them.  Even  if  they  were  brought 
from  the  northern  |>arti  ei  Asi»,  Europe,  and  America,  and 

y  <l  Ante,  p.  33. 


\^f^:     .-  i^A,.._..^X.^uX     ,,-^S^  ( 


J-.JSI.:.     .     ».,  t-&-^' 


CHANGE  OF  CLIMATE. 


[Chap.  V. 


1^. 


thousands  of  them  planted  round  the  foot  of  Mount  Washington, 
they  would  never  be  able,  in  any  number  of  years,  to  make  thoir 
.  -way  to  its  summit.;     We  must  suppose,  therefore,  that  originally 
they  extended  their  range  in  the  same  way  as  the  flowering 
plants  now  inhabiting  Arctic  and  Antarctic  lands  disseminate 
themselves.      The  innumerable  islands  in  the  Polar  seas  are 
tenanted  by  the  same  species  of  plants,  some  of  which  are  con- 
veyed at  seeds  by  animals  over  the  ice  when  the  sea  \i  frozen  in 
winter,  or  by  birds ;  while  a  still  larger  number  are  transported 
by  floating  icebergs,  on  which  soil  containing  .the  seeds  of  plants 
may  be  carried  in  a  single  year  for  hundreds  of  miles.     A  great 
body  of  geological  evidence  has  now  been  brought  together,  to 
some  of^which  I  have,  adverted  in  a  former  chapter,*  to  show 
that  this  machinery  for  scattering  plants,  as  well  as  for  carrying 
erratic  blocks  southward,  and  polishing-  ^d  grooving  the  j^oor  of 
the  ancient  ocean,  extended  in  the  western  hemisphere  to  lower 
latitudes  than  the  White  Moui^tains.      When  these  last  still 
constituted  islands;  in  a  sea  chilled  %  the  melting  of  floating  ice, 
we, may  assume  that  they  were  covered  entirely  by  a  flora  like 
that  now  confined  to  the  uppettnosf  or  treeless  region  of  the 
mountains.     As  the  Oontinent  grew  by  the  sfow  upheaval  of  the 
land,  and  the  islands  gained  in  height,  and  the  climate  around 
their  base  grew  milder,  the  Arctic  plants  would  retreat  to  higher 
and  higher  zones,  and  finally  occupy  an  elevated  area,  which 
probably  had  been  at  first,  or  in  the  glacial  period,  always  covered 
with  perpetual  snow.    Meanwhile  the  newly-formed  plains  around 
the  base  of  the  mountain,  to  which  northern  species  of  plants 
could  not  spread,  would  be  occupied  by  others  migrating  from  th& 
iouth,  and  perhaps  by  many  trees,  shrubs,  and  plants  then  first 
created,  and  "remaining  to  this  dayjpeculiar  to  North  America.! 
,    ,.  The  period  when  the  White  Mountains  ceased  to  be  a  group 
of  islands,  or  when,  try  the  emergence  of  the  surrounding  low 

•  Ante,  p.  17.  " 

t  For  8peoula.tions  on  analogous  botanical  and  geographical  changes  in 
Euro^  the  roSder  may  refer  witli  advantage  to  an  excellent  essay  by 
Profei^fcr  Edward  Forbes,  on  the  Origin  of  the  BHtish  Fauna  and  Flora. 
*   Momuiia  of  Geol.  Smvey  of  Qiem  Britain,  vol.  tprsSVT'  1848 


<f 


it^mmitii ,  IWU'-'  '^-immfr-i 


Chip.  V.] 


GRANITE  ROCKS 


n 


seas  are 


lands,  they  first  became  connected  with  the  contment,  is,  as  we 
have  seen,  of  very  modem^date,  geologically  speaking.     It  is, 
in  fact,  so  recelit  as  to  belong  to  the  epoch  when  species  now 
contemporaneous  with  man  already  inhabited  this  planet.     But 
if  we  attempt  to  carry  our  retrospect  still  fkrther  into  the  past, 
and  to  go  back  to  the  date  when  the  rocks  themselves  of  the 
White  Mountains  originated,  we  are  lost  in  times  of  extepme 
antiquity.      No  light  is  thrown  on  this  inquiry  hr  embSded 
organic^  remains, -bf  which  the  strain  of  gneiss, 'feiica  schist,  clay- 
slate,    and  quartzite  ^re  wh#lly  devoid.       These    masses    are 
traversed  by  numerous  veins  of  grsbiite  and  greenstone,  which 
are  therefore  newer  than  the  stratified  crySftdline  rocks  which 
they  intersect;    and  the  abrupt  manner  iii  whicli  these  veins 
terminate  at  the  surface  attest*  how  much  denudation  or  removal 
by  water  of  solid  matter  has  tak^n  place.     Another  question  of 
a  chronological  kind  may  yet  de^r^  attention,  namely,  the  epoch 
of  the  movements  which  threw  the  b^ds  of  gneiss  and  the  associ- 
ated rocks  into  their  present  bent,'  diKtui'bed,  and  vertical  positions. 
This  subject  is  also  involved  in  consid«ii|Lble  obscurity,  although 
it  seems  highly  probable  that  the  crystalline  strata  of  New  Hamp- 
shire acquired  their  internal  arrangement  at  the  same  time  as  the 
fossiliferous  beds  of  the  Appalachian  of  Alleghany  chain:  and 
we  know  that  they  assumed  their  actual  strike  an^  dip  sub- 
sequently to  the  origin  of  the  coal  measures,  which  enter  so  largely 
into  the  structure  of  that  chain. 

From  Fabyan's  Inn,  at  the  foot  of  Motftit  Washington,  we 
traveled  about  twenty-five  miles  westward  to  Bithlehem,  and 
thence  southward  to  the  Franconia  Notch,  a  deep  and  picturesque 
ravine  in  the  mountains  of  granite.  O^  the  way  I  conversed 
with  the  driver  of  our  carriage  abftut  the  village  ohiipches,  and, 
being  very  comihunicative,  he  told  me  he  was  a  Free-will  Baptist, 
but  had  only  become  a  Christian  five  years  ago,  -»dien  he  was 
awakened  from  a  statd  of  indifference  by  a  revival  which  took 
place  near  Bethlehem.  This  meeting,  he  said,  was  got  up  and 
managed  by  tl^e  Methodists ;  but  some  Baptists,  and  one  ortho- 
^o^  ( J^dependent  or  Congregationalist)  minister  had  assisted,  in 


aU  sixteen  ministers,  and  for  twenty-one  dayi  in  succession  there 
VOL.  I D 


■^:^S^tL^^t%^  i.~±:,f   '.E 


■^ti^:  / 


74 


REVIVAL  AT  BETHLEHEM. 


£Ohap.  V. 


had  been  prayers  and  preaching  ,ihce88antly  front  morning  to 
night.  I  had  already  seen  in  a  l^ew  York  paper  the  following 
advertisenjent :  "  A  protracted  meeting  is  now  in  progress  attho 

-^ <^%^ch  in  i  V  t    ..  Street.     There  have  been  a  number  of 

conversions,  ana  it  is  hdped  the  work  of  grace  has  but  just  cqm- 

menccfd.     ^Preaching  eve^  evening  :  seats  free."    I  was  surprised 

to  hear  of  the  union  of  ministers  of  more  than  one  denomination 

on  this  occasion,  and,  on  inquiry,  was  told  by  a  Methodist,  that 

no  Episcopalians  would  join,  «« because  they  do  not  sufficiently 

rely  on  regeneration  and  the  ne'v^fcman."     It  appears,  indeed,  to 

j^    be  essential  to  the  efficacy  of  this  species  of  excitement,  that  there 

should  J»e  a  previous  beUef  that  each  may  hope  at  a  particular 

momenti*?'  to  receive  comfort,"  as  they  term  it,  or  that  their  con- 

version  may  be  as  sudden  as  ^yaa  that  of  St.  Paul.     A  Boston 

friend  assured  riie  that  when  he  once  attended'  a  revival  sermon, 

he  heard  the  preacher  describe  the  synaptoms  which  tiiey  might 

expect  to  experience  on  the  first;  second,  and  third  day  previous 

to  their  conversion,  just  al^i  medical  lecturer  might  expatiate  to 

his  pupils  on  the  progress  of  a  well-kno  wn,  disease ;  and  "the 

complaint,"  he  added,  "is  indeed  a  serious  oneranH  very  con- 

tagious,  when  the  feelings  have  obtained  an  ^lire  control  over 

the  judgment,  and  the  new  convert  is  in  the  power  of  thp 

preacher.      He  hin|elf  ii  often  worked  up  to  such  a  pitch  of 

enthusiasm,  as  to  Mve  lost  all  command  ^over  his  own  heated^ 

imagination." 

It  is  the  great  object  of  the  ministers  whp  officiate  ^n  these 
occasions  to  keep  up  a  perpetual  excitement ;  but  .while  they  are 
endeavormg  Uip-personal  appeals  to  overcome  the  apathy  of  dull. 
Blow,  and  insensible  minds,  they  run  the  risk  of  driving  others,  of 
weaker  nerves  and  a  more  sensitive  temperament,  who  i&e  sitting 
on  "the  anxious  benches,"  to  the  very  verge  of  distraction. 

My  friend,  the  driver,  was  evidently  one  of  a  slow  and  unexcit- 
able  dispoaition,  and  had. been  led  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  to 
think  senously  on  religious  matters  by  what  he  heard  at  the 
great  preaching  near  Bethlehem^  but4t it  admitted,  and  deplored 
by  the  advocates  S£  revivals,  that  after  the  application  of  such 
violent  ttimulantfl  there  is  invarinbly  w  reaction,  ftnd  what  il»a 


.  ni*47^'™iw?'* 


Chap.  V.] 


jiratLEfii*rB  movement! 


-      •  I  lift'  M 


75 


caU  a  flat  or  dead  seatfloH.     The  emotions  are  so  strong  as  ta 
exhaust  both  the*  bo^y  and- mind  ;  and  it  is  creditable  to  the  New 
England  clergy  of  all  Sects,  that  they  have  in  general,  of  late 
years,  almost  entirely  discontinued  such  meetings. 
^  At  the  Franconia  hotel  I  first  heard  ^the  recent  fanatical 
movement  of  the  Millerites,  or  followers  of  one  MiUer,  who  taught 
that  the  millennium,  or  final  destruction  of  the  world,  would 
come  to  pass  Irfst  year,  or  on  the  23d  day  of  October,  X  844     A 
farmer  from  the  village  of  Lisbon  told  me  that,  in  the  course  of 
the  preceding  autumn,  many  of  his  neighbors  would  neither  reap 
^eir  harvest  of  Indian  com  and. potatoes,  nor  let  others  take  in  * 
the  crop,  sayiiig  it  was  tempting  Providence  to  store  up  Vain  for 
a  season  that  could  'never  arrive,  the  great  catastrophe  being  BoS> 
near  at  hand.     These  infatuated  people,  however,  exerted  them- 
selves very  diligently  to. save  what  remained  of  their  property 
When  the  non-fulfilhnent  of  the  prophecy  dispelled  their  Mu^on 
In  several  towns^jps  in  this  and  the  adjoining  States,  the  parochial 
ofiicers,  or  "  select  men,"  interfered,  harvesting  the  crops  at  the 
pubhc  expanse,  and  requiring  the  owners,  after  the  23d'  October 
to  repay  them  for  the  outlay.    .  r  ' 

T  afterward  heard  many  anecdotes  respecting  the  Millerite 
;  movement,  not  a  fe^  a£  my  informants  speaking  with  marked 
mdulgence  of  what  they  regarded  simply  as  a  miscalculation  of 
a  prophecy  whieh  must  be  accomplished  at  no  dwtant  date      In 
the  township  of  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  I  was  told  of  an  old 
woman,  who,  on  paying  her  annual  rent  for  a  house,  said,  "  I  guess 
this  is^the  Jast  rent  you  will  get  from  me."     Her  landlord  life. 
marked,  '« If  so,  I  hope  you  have  gpt  your  robes  ready  j"  alludi|p 
to  the  common  practice  of  thi^  faimk  to  prepare  whtte  ascensiZ 
robes,  ..  for  going  up  into  heaven."     Hearing  that  there  had  been 
advertisements  from  shops  in  Boston  eid  elsewhere  to  fumisk 
any  number  of  these  robes  on  the  shortest  i^ce,  I  took  for  grant- 
ed that  they  were  meant  as  ^hoax ;  but  an  English  bJpUer 
residing  at  New  York,  assured  me  that  there  was  a  brS  de* 
mand  for  such  articles,  even  as  far  sduth  as  Philadelphia,  and 
'  ?.  "ll      ^^^,^^*^  individuals  in  New  York,  who  sat  up  ,11  nigt^t 


<k 


in 


4 


€>. 


v  ■ 


'^ 


-!Ssmttfi'^,V  •■S^-''^  '* 


re 


i  A, 


^■m^ 


E  MOVEM£N 


IChap.  V. 


^., 


<* 


^  A  oarieature,  publii^lK^  it  Bbston,.  represented   Miller,  the 
origi^hMitor  of  the  moT^ent,  ascending*  to  hea'^n  'tn  his  robes  ', 
h&X  his  chaplain,,  who  tras  susp^ted  of  n^K^eing  an  enthusiasti 
but  having  an  eye  to" the  dollars  freely  thn^vtm  into  "the  Lord's 
Treasury,"  was  weighed  d6wn  by  th^jnone^bags,  and  the  de-^ils 
'  were  drawing  hito  in  an'  opposite  directio^i «    To  Itfep  i  up  |pe 
excftement,  several  newspf||)eiB  and  periodiodM  were  ]^]|Phed1|| 
the  interest  of  |h|s  se«t,  and  I,j,was  told  ojr^eral  J&|iod}St\^ 
preachers  who  g^||hem8elves  up  in  fhll  si|iMty^o$^^|lu 
sion.     I  asked  ji^ii^saii  who  sat  ne3^  m#  ibiia  jTStilWayJ'      ^ 
Massachusetts,  iI^hA  h^  .had  h^lld jBlFJr  talk  of^e  miU< 

in  his  district.  ■'^^IJP^I^If^Myif'^ft'  ^  rernmber  a 
jade  coming  do^xi  i^^i^^9^m^  and  ev^ 

some  smart,  hketj'^paf^^^f^^^l^'m^^       her  preaching. 
.;And,  when  Hie  d|if>^i^^^Ji4|j|S^  *W  "^"*^I:|J^' 

■'inade  a  nuscalMjJiatieflt|^^^|:^  would  **^^ 

©.three  day8%i,ter^^^p|^a(j^^  if %as  declared  it,  would  tf* 

happen^  the.yeat'J847^|l^i<^>i^ffate  was  the  more  certain,  be- 
cailse  K^,  the  ^vious  kimputatiois  had  failed,  dad  that  era  iihrna 

tka  sujlfauent  pi5irt  of  ^r  tour,  several  houses  ivere  pointed 
out  1»  us,  b^«^I^;  Elymou4;h  (Massachutotts)  and  Boston,  the 
owneM  of  v^hic^^iad  ^)een  reduced  f<pm  oale  to  poverty  by  their 
credulity,  haVixi^Kld  their  all  toward  blttiidii^  the  Tabernacle, 

•  in  which  they  wele'^to  pray  uicessantly  fot  sijf  weeks  previous  to 

'  their  ascensipn.  *,Ainong  other  stories  whJcfc,  whether  true  or 
not,  pro^  1w|,me  how  much  £raud- was  imputed  to  some  of  the 
leaders,  I  iras  told  of  a  young  girl  Who,  having  no  money,. was 
advised  to  sell  her  necklace,  which  had  been  presented  to  her  by 
her  betrothed.  >  Thlr  jeweler,  seeing  that  she  was  much  afiected 
at  parting  with  hbi  treasure,  and  discovering  the  object  of  the 
sale,  showed  hie  some  silver  forks  and  spoons,  on  wiiich  he  was 

.  about  to  engrai^the  initials  of  the  very  minister  whose  dupe  she 
was,  and  those  of  the  lady  he  was  about  to  marry  on  a  fixe^day 
after  the  fated  23d  of  October. 

The  Tabernacle,  above  alluded  to^f^  planned  for  the  aci 

^^^rawS^riri^^MTOW^ad^tfQ^lgp^wK'^^W^ 


'  ^^i^^^-'^^'i^m^^^t^ 


'-> 


Ohap.  Y.}      -^    THB  TABEBNAOLE  AT  BOSTON. 


tr 


pray,  and  "go  up"  at  Boston j  but,  as  it  was  intended  merely 

for  a  temporary  purpose,  the  fabric  would  have  been  very  slight 

H^^tiaecmey  had  not  the  magistrates,  fearing  that  it  might  fall 

iiiM^riie  street  and  kill  some  of  the  passers-by,  interposed  in 

[le,  and  required  the  architect  to  erect  a  substantial  ,edi- 

^  ^'Whxki  the  society  of  the  MiUetites  waa  bankrupt,  jthia 

smacle  was  «old  and  fitted  up  as  a  theater ;  and  there,  in  the 

cour^j^of  the  winter,  we  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Mr.  and  Mrs, 

i»perfoi1:n  Macbeth.     Although  under  no  apprehensions  that 
roof  would  fall  in,  yet,  as  all  tho  seats  were  stuffed  with  hay, 

Inhere  was  only  one  door,  we  had  some  conversation  during 

"  erforraance  w  tp  what  might  be  our  chance  of  escape  in  the 
event  of  a  fire.  85aly  a  &w  months  later  the  whole  edifice  wi|s 
actually  burned  to  the  ground,  but  fortunately  no  lives  wei«  lost. 
Inftone  of  the  scenes  of  Macbeth,  where  Hecate  is  represented  as. 
going  up  to  heaven,  and  singing,  "  Now  I'm  furnished  for  the 
flight — Now  I  fly,"  &c.,  some  of  our  party  told  us  they  were 
]:eminded  of  the  extraordinary  sight  they  had  witnessed  in  that 
room  on  tjie  23d  of  October  of  the  previous  year,  when  the  walla 
were  all  covered  with  Hebrew  and  Greek  texts,  and  when  & 
crowd  of  devotees  were  praying  in  their  ascension  robes,  in  hourly 
expectation  of  the  consummation  of  aU  things. 

I  observed  to  one  of  my  New  England  firiendi.  that  the  num- 
ber of  Millerite  proselytes,  and  also  the  fact  that  the  prophet  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  Joseph  Smith,  could  reckon  at  the  lowest 
estimate  60,000  followers  in  the  United  States,  and,  aocording 
to  some  accounts,  120,000,  did  not  aigue  much  in  fiivor  of  the 
working  of  their  plan  of  national  education.  "  As  for  the  Mor- 
mons," he  replied,  ''you  must  bear  in  mind  that  they  were  largely 
recruited  from  the  manufacturing  districts  of  England  and  Wales, 
and  from  European  emigrants  recently  lurrived.  They  were  drawn 
chiefly  from  *n  illiterate  class  in  lihe  weatem  ■tates,  where  so- 
ciety is  in  its  rudeSt  oonditionl  Th^  i>rogres8  of  the  Millerites, 
however,  although  confined  to  a  fraction  of  the  population,  re-/ 
fleets  mdoubtedly  much  disCri^t  on  the  educMktional  and  religious 
tetining  in  New  England ;  but  linoe  thft  year  1 000,  when  all 


Uhmleil^mn&eliovod  Mt  tiie  world  waa  to  con|e  to  an  end, 


JiJiL  i  H  ^i0  i 


4^   , 


•4"*   ''- 


.^■,^ 


a    tmmi-   I 


.,■.«,■ 


■i,  -  -i/r^^Ji^i^Jim 


-  ■^'•rv^sf^^^ffm 


m 


NEW  ENGLAND  FANATICISM. 


[Obap.  V. 


there  have  never  been  wanting  interpreters  of  prophecy,  who 
have  Qpnfidently  assigned  some  exact  date,  and  one  near  at  hand, 
for  the  millennium.     Your  Faber  on  the  Prophecies,  and  the 
■w^tings  of  Croly,  and  even  some  articles  in  the  Quarterly  Re- 
'  view,  helped  for  a  time  to  keep  up  this  spirit  here,  and  make  it 
fashionable.     But  the  Millerite  movement,  like  the  rbcent  exhi- 
bition  of  the  Holy  Coat  at  Treves,  has  done  much  to  open  men's 
minds;  and  the  exertions  made  of  late  to  check  this  fanatical 
movement,  have  advanced  the  cause  of  truth."     He  then  went 
on  U  describe  to  me  a  sermon  preached  in  one  of  the  northeast- 
s^i^ownships  of  Massachusetts,  which  he  named,  against  the  MU- 
lerite  opinions,  by  the  minister  of  the  parish,  who  explained  the 
doubts  generaUy  entertained  by  the  learned  in  regard  to  some  of  the 
dates  of  the  prophecies  of  Daniel,  entered  freely  into  modern  con- 
troversies about  the  verbat  inspiration  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
tament, and  referred  to  several  new  works,  both  of  German, 
British,  and  New  England  authors,  which  his  congregation  had 
never  heard  of  tiU  then.     Not  a  few  of  them  complained  that 
they  had  been  so  long  kept  in  the  dark,  that  their  minister  must 
have  entertained  many  of  these  opinions  long  before,  and  that  he 
had  now  revealeilth6min  order  to  stem  the  current  of  a  popular 
delusion,  and  for  expediency,  rather  than  from  the  love  of  truth. 
"  Never,"  said  they,  «« can  we  in  future  put  the  same  confidence 
m  him  again."         . 

Other  apologists  observed  to  me,  that  so  long  as  a  part  of  the 
IK)pulation  was  very  ignorant,  even  the  well-educated  would  occa- 
aionally  participate  in  fanatical  tnovements  ;  «« for  reU^us  en- 
thusiasm, Uing  very  contagious,  resembles  a  famine  fe#ri^  which 
first  attacks  those  who  are  starving,  but  afterward  infects  some 
of  the  healthiest  and  best-fed  individuals  in  the  whole  communi, 
ly."  This  explanation,  plausible  and  ingenious  as  it  may  ap^ 
pear,  is,  I  beheve,  a  fallacy.  If  they  who  have  gone  through 
school  and  college,  and  have  been  for  years  in  the  habit  of  lis- 
temng  to  preachers,  become  the  victims  of  jwpular  fanaticism,  it 
proves  that,,  however  accomplished  and  leartied  they  may  be, 
thair  reasoning  powers  have  not  been  Cultivated,  their  under- 
-tsndingB  havBTRnrlJeen  elliS^edriHey  ¥ave  not  been  trained  in 


,  "iittft   .?t. 


Chap.  V.] 


NEW  mOLAm  FANATICISM. 


79 


habits  oif  judging  and  thinking  for  themselves  ;  in  fact,  they  are 
ill  educated.  Instead  of  being  told  that  it  is  their  duty  care- 
fully to  investigate  historical  evidence  for  themselves,  and  to 
cherish  an  independent  frame  of  mind,  they  have  probably  been 
brought  up  to  think  that  a  docile,  submissive,  and  child-like  def- 
erence to  the  authority  of  churchmen  "is  the  highest  merit  of  a 
Christian.  They  have  perhaps  heard  much  about  the  pride  of 
philosophy,  aiid  how  all  human  learning  is  a  snare.  In  mat- 
ters connected  with  religion  they'  have  been  accustomed  blindly 
to  resign  themselves  tp  the  guidance  of  others,  and  hence  are 
prepared  to  yield  themselves  up  to  4he  influence  of  any  new  pre- 
tender to  superior  sanctity  who  is  a  greater  enthusiast  than 


■.V 


therajselves. 

■ 

i 

- 

■ 

i 

* 

'    *iiS^ 

-           * 

» 

I 

\ 

- 

« 

i 

<5 

1 

r 

,  ■       f 

<^jt,;-s 


*■■ 


?-'>{  "1,  ■i  ,V^'^^'9!5(^7''"T'   ^-^^-f  -^p 


CHAP 

Social  EquaUty .—Position  of  Serymiiit-Ww  with  EnglMd.— Coftlitiou  of 
Northern  Democrats,  and  Southern  Slave-owqers.— Ostracism  of  Wealth 
—Legislators  paid — ^Envy  in  a  Den^ocracy.— Politic«.^Syhft^untry 
^^  *S®  Cinr.— Pledges  at  Elections.^tJmversal  S^^gSmSmaxxA  >/ 
in  a  Stage  ISoach.— Retu»  fifom  the  White  Moiintoii».--Plyinouth  in 
New  HainpsBire.— Congregational  and  Methodist  Churches— Theo- 
logicaJ^Discwssions  of  J^ow-Travelers.— Temperance  Movement— 
I'ost-Unice  Abuses. — homS!^  Factories. 

Oct.  10,  1845 — -ricl^o  our  stay  in  the  White  Mountains, 
we  were  dining  one  ^  at  the  ordinary  of  the  Franconia  hotel, 
when  a  lawyer  fromnMassachusetts  pointed  out  to  me  "  a  lady" ) 
sittmg^  opposite  to  us,  whom  he  recognized  as  the  chambermaid/ 
ol  aii  inn  in  the  State  of  M^ne,  and  he  suppos^  «'that  her 
companion  with  whom  she  w^ltalking  might  belonf  to  the  saj 
station."     Lasked  if  he  thought  the  waiters,  who  were  as  resScit- 
ful  to  these  guests  as^to  us,,  were  aware  of  their  true  pojrftion  in 
society.      "Prohablfaiey  are  S.'^Je' replied;   "and,  Inoreover, 
as  the  season  is  noW  almost  over  m  these  mountams,  I  presume 
that  these  gentlemen,  who  must  have  saved^poney  here,  wiU 
very  soon  indulge  in  some  similar  recreation^anl^make  mxL.  ^. 
cursion  themselves."    -He  then  entered  i;|to  cb^ersation^th 
the  two  ladies  on  a  variety  of  to|^  fo^Jie  sak#  of  draiing 
them  out,  treating  them  quite  as  equ^;  and  certainly  succeeded 
m  provmg  to  ^;|^e  that  they  had  b^  ^L  taught  at  school,  had  ' 
rea4  good  books,  an(i|pould  enjoy  a  t<*flnd  adnjir^edery  1- 
well  as  ourselves.     "It  is  no  small  graification  to  tlW^ 
he,   "to   sit  on  t«mn8  of  equality  with  the  silver  li^4ntrv 
dressed   m  their  best  clothes,  as  if  the^  WerA  fen  orthod/x 
meetmg-hoiiif."     I  (M)mplimented  him  on  car^V  A  in  prac- 
tice the  American  thistoV  4  social  feqU^%.     ^e^d  s^ng  ^ 
anti-slavery  feelingiiancrVas  somewhat  of  an  Abolitionist,  he 
sa^d,  "  Yes,  but  Jg  must  not  ^rget  they  have  no  dash  of  niyrn 


w^ 


"^"^tt^ 


am.: 


%*  *. 


■^' 


>^ .  ^  „I^,^3^^it^ 


i.  C'fe    «  ^i-^.'AJ  A^^^^f 


Qmap.  yi.j 


WAR  WITH  UNGLA: 


"W 


'it    VT*%-^-  *  "f!|>ni      tff-   'a   j^-. 


at 


^n'^^tir  wv  ^^'^    ll^^M.  that  I  had  always  inferred 
from  the  books  of  Enghsh  travelers  in  the  United  States   that 
domestic  service  was  held  as  somewhat  of  a  degradation  in' New   ' 
England.     «'  I  remember  the  time,"  he  answered,  «  when  such 
an  Idea  was  never  entertained  by  any  one  here  ;  but  servants 
formerly  used  to  hve  with  their  master  and  mistress,  and  have 
their  meals  at  th^  same  table.     Of  late  yeara.  the  custom  of 
boarding  separately  has  gained  ground,  and  work  in  factories  is   ' 
now  preferred.     These  are  so  managed,  that  the  daughter,  xif 
farmers,  a^  sometime  of  our  ministers,  look  upon  them  as  most 
resi^tablo  places,  where  in  three  or  four  years  they  may  earn  a 
8ma41  sma  toward  Aeif  dftwyy,  or  which  may  help  to  my  off  a 
mortgage  or  family  debt"  v  i~/ "»  * 

As    during  our  stay  here,  the  toll  of  the  newspapers  from 
Wa8hinj|»n  was  somewhat  bellicose,  and  we  were  proposing  to 
make  a  %r  of  eight  months  in  the  southern  states,  I  aTked  mv 
legal  companion  whethey  he  was  reaUy  apprehensive  of  a  wai 
about  Oregon.     «  No."  he  said.  "  there  may  be  big  words  and 
mu^h^Mustermg,  and  jerhaps.  before  the  storm  blows  over,  a 
waf  p^;  but  there  #ill  be  no  rapture  with  England,  because 
"  ^-'"S^t  the  Interest  of  the  slave-owners;  for  you  know  I 
I>resume,^we  a,^  governed  by  the  South,  and  our  southern 
chivalry ^i^t  their  veto  on  a  way  of  which  they  would  have 
to  b^  *^^b"»°^"  Y  mA  I.  "yo«  are  ruled  by  the  slave, 
ownmg  states   y<^ay  ^ank  yourselves  for  it.  the  numerical, 
physical   intellectual,  and  moral  power  being  on  the  side  of  the 
iroe  states      Why  do  you  knock  under  to  them  ?"     «  You  may 
well  ask  that  que^on,"  h^  replied;  "and,  as  a  foreigner  n: 
not  ea^Uy  be  made  to  comprehend  th^  political  thralldom ' 
wJuoh  we,  the  majority  of  northerners,  are  stUl  held,  but  wi 
can  not,  ^I  think,   last  much  longer.     Hitherto   the  soutlra 
plan  ers  have  had  m^re  leisure  to  devote  to  poUtics  than  our 
smaU  farmers  or  ^99g|Ghant8  in  the  north.     They  are  banded  to- 

"f  n?^'  !v  T  "^"^rt  ^^"^  ^  ^^^  *l^«y  caU  their  property 
and^ins^itutions.     l^y  have  a  high  bearing,  which,  L  Qol 

IT;  1    ?  ^aposes  on  northern  men  much  superior  to  them  in 
real  twlftnt,  knowledge,  and  «^ngtfar-i^  chwactei^     They  aro 


^. 


% 


''tSkt. 


.  Jb\, 


-ir": 


••rfW^ 


n 


"^W' 


OSTRACISM  OF  WEALTH. 


[Chap. 


often  eloquent,  and  have  much  political  tact,  and  have  formed  a 
league  with  the  unscrupulous  demagogues  here,  and,  by  uniting 
with  them,  rule  the  country.  For  example,  the  mass  of  our 
population  were  strongly  opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery,  and 
voted  at  first  against  the  annexation  of  Texas,  yet  they  have 
been  cajoled  into  the  adoption  of  that  measure." 

"  Do  the  slave-owners,"  I  asked,  "give  bribes  to  the  chiefs  of 
your  democratic  party  ?"  "  No,  our  electors  have  too  much 
self-respect  and  independence  to  accept  of  money  bribes ;  but,  by 
ioining  with  their  southern  allies,  they  get  what  one  of  their  party 
had  recently  the  ejffifontery  to  call  '  the  spoils  of  the  victor.' 
They  are  promoted  to  places  in  the  custom-house  or  post-office, 
or  sent  on  a  foreign  mission,  or  made  district  attorneys,  or  a 
lawyer  may  now  and  then  be  raised  even  to  the  bench  of  the 
Supreme  Court ;  not  one  who  is  positively  incompetent,  but  a 
man  whp,  but  for  political  services,  would  never  have  been  se- 
lected for  the  highest  honors  in  his  profession." 

I  next  told  my  friend  that,  when  traveling  in  Maine,  I  had 
asked  a  gentleman  why  his  neighbor,  Mr.  A.,  a  rich  and  well- 
informed  man,  was  not  a  member  of  their  Legislature,  and  he 
had  replied,  "  Because  he  is  known  to  have  so  much  wealth, 
both  in  land  and  money,  that,  if  he  were  to  stand,  the  people 
would'  not  elect  him."  "  Is  it  then,"  I  inquired,  "  an  avowed 
principle  of  the  democracy,  that  the  rich  are  to  be  ostracised  ?" 
and  I  went  on  to  say  that,  in  a  club  to  which  I  belonged  in 
London,  we  had  jbl  servant  who,  though  very  poor,  had  a  vote 
as  proprietor  of  a  house,  all  the  apartments  of  which  he  let  out 
to  different  lodgers.  When  he  was  questioned  why,  at  two  Suc- 
cessive elections,  he  had  voted  for  candidates  of  exactly  opposite 
opinions  in  politics,  he  explained  by  saying,  "  I  make  it  a  rule 
always  to  vote  with  my  first  floor."  «'  I  presume  that  if  he 
migrated  to  New  Hampshire  or  Maine,  he  would  vote  with  his 
garret,  instead  of  his  first  floor  ?" 

"  I  have  no  doubt,"  said  my  companion,  "that such  an  elector 

would  side  with  the  powers  that  be ;  and  as  the  democracy  has 

the  upper  hand  here,  as  in  Maine,  he  would  have  paid  as  servile 

la  homa.gaJ;a  the  dominant  par^fon1tok«d»  ej  the^lfeatia 


-  "*y^'. 


''?k 


/*'• 


CHAf.  VI.] 


LBGISLATOES  PAIt>. 


83 


-a- 


'■'I'l  i- 


li0  did  to  the  ariatocraoy  of  wealth  in  your  country .  Do  you 
desire  to  8^  our  people  regard  wealth,  as  a  leading  qualification 
jfor  their  representatives  ?" 

"  Surely,"  said  I,  « it  is  an  evil  that  men  of  good  abilities,  of 
leisure,  and  independent  station,  who  have  had  the  best  means 
of  obtaining  a  superior  education,  should  be  excluded  from  public 
life  by  that  envy  which  seems  to  have  so  rank  a  growth  in  a 
demooiraoy^  owing  to  the  vain  efforts  to  realize  a  theory  of  equal- 
ity. It  i^UBt  be  a  defect  in  your  system,  if  there  is  no  useful 
career  open  to  young  men  of  fortune.  They  are  often  ruined,  I 
hear,  for  want  of  suitable  employments." 

"There  are,"  he  said,  "comparatively  few  of  them  in  tie 
United  States,  where  the  law  of  primogeniture  no  longer  pre- 
vails ;  and  if  we  have  good-for-nothing  individuals  among  them, 
it  is  no  more  than  may  be  said  of  your  own  aristocracy."  He 
then^named  an  example  or  two  of  New  Englanders,  who,  having 
inh^nted  considerable  property,  had  yet  risen  to  political  distinc- 
tion, and  several  more  (four  of  whom  I  myself  knew),  who, 
having  made  large  fortunes  by  their  talents,  had  been  members 
either  of  the  State  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  or  of  Congress. 
He  did  not,  however,  deny  that  it  is  often  good  policy,  in  an 
election,  for  a  rich  candidate  to  afiect  to  be  poorer  than  he  is. 
"Every  one  of  our  representatives,"  he  added,  <«  whether  in  the 
State  Legislatures  or  in  Congress,  receives  a  certain  sum  daily 
when  on  duty,  besides  more  than  enough  traveling  money  for 
carrying  him  to  his  post  and  home  again.  In  choosing  a  dele- 
gate, therefore,  the  people  consider  themselves  as  patrons  who 
are  giving  away  a  place ;  and  if  an  opulent  man  osiers  hinaself, 
they  are  disposed  to  say,  •  You  have  enough  already,  let  us  help 
some  one  as  good  as  you  who  needs  it.'  "    *      X' 

Durii)g  my  subsequent  stay  in  New  England,  I  often  con- 
versed with  men  of  the  working  classes  on  the  same  subject,  and 
invariably  found  that  they  had^tMjgg^Mp  their  mind  that  it  was 
not  desirable  to  choose  represenwiV'esrfrom  the  wealthiest  class. 
"The  rich,"  they  say,  "have  les^  sympathy  with. our  opinions  • 
and  feelings  r  love  their  amusements,  and  go  shooting,  fishing',, 
and  trav^ag  ^ keep  hospitable  !houBe8,and^«»4naceeB8ible  whett- 


-41 


'^r*A--^ 


^ia.%t^''^fir-      -^s^ 


iiavf-^f^T'   ■*',r  =  '!■  ■• 


^:^ 


:f 


V 


84 


GENEBAL  JACKSON'S  VOUCH.  \c^kf.  Vt. 


we  WMit  to  tdk  with  them>  «t  a11  honrt,  and  toll  thorn  }mw  w6 
ttdsh  then^  to  vote."  "I  onoe  asked  a  party  of  Now  England, 
tradotmon  whether,  if  Mr.  D.,  already  an  eminent  public  maii«  , 
oame  into  a  largo  fortune  throi^h  his  wife,  ai  4night  f oo^  be  ox- 
peoted,  he  would  itand  a  worM  chanoe  than  before  of  being  tent 
to  Congren.  The  quoitioi|  gave  riie'  to  a  diaouition  among 
themielvoa,  and  at  last  they  aaiured  me  that  the^  did  not  think 
hii  aooeiiion  to  a  fortune  would  do  him:  any  harm.  It  oleaily 
never  struck  them  ai  pouiblo  that  it  oould  do  hiin  any  good',  or 
aid  hii  ohanee  of  suooeM.  .  '  ,  ' 

The  chief  motive,  I  appi^end.W  preferring. a  poorer  candi- 
date, is  the  detirx)  of  .reducing  tlie  momben  of  their  Legialaturb 
to  mere  delegate!.  A  rich  mai|  wquld  be  apt  to  have  an  opinion 
of  his  own.  to  b<p  unwilling  to  make  a  sacrifice  of  his  free  agency ; 
he  woul4  not  always  identify  himself  with  the  majority  of  hia^ 
electors,  eondesoend  ta  become,  like  th^  wires  of  the  eleetrio 
telegraph,  a  mere  piece  of  uiaohineryfo|r  oohveyin^  to  tjie  Capitol 
of  his  €)tate,  or  to  /Washington,  the  behests  of  the  multitude. 
That  there  is,  besides,  a  vulgar  jealousy  of  luperioir  wealth,* 
ospeoially  in  the  less  educated  districts  and  newer  stiates,  I  satis- 
fied myself  in  the  cours^  of  my  U)ur ;  but  in  regard  to  envy,  we( 
must  also  bear  in  mind,  on  the  other  band,  that  they  who  elevate 
to  distinction  one  of  their  own  elas*  in  society,  have  spmet^es 
to  achieve  «tt  greater  ^victory  over  that  passion  than  wjien  they 
confer  the  same  favbr  on  one  ^ho  ocoupies  already,  by  viriue  of 
great  riches,  a  higher  position.- 

In  reference  also  to  pledget  exacted  from  represoptSiti  vet  tit  an 
election,  I  udq  bound  to  mfnti^n  some  spirited  letters  whidaJ  mw 
pu^Mied  by  Whig  candi^at^4n  Massaohusetts.  who  oarj|^heir 
oloelion  in  spite  of  them.  Fi&a  pne  of  those  I  quote  theXuow. 
ing  words  ;  '•  I  must  dioiiift-  giving  a  direbt  reply  to  your  spebifio 
questions ;  my  general  conduct  and  character  as  a  public  man,  \ 
must  be  your  guarantee.  My  votes  are  on  rboord,  my  speeches 
are  in  print  ;k  if  they  do  not  inspire  confidonoe,  no  pledges  or  4eo- 
larations  of  purpose  ought  to  do  so." 

'     It  was  part  oif  General  Jsi^kson's  policy,  openly  avowed^by  him 
in  sevyal  of  his  yr^dential  ajdresset,  ty  persuade  the  small 


•iM.^iJ 


f  4t^".« 


OllAII,VI,j 


mirmthifSvj^rRKQik 


ySUf 
ifiutt 


fehnoiii,  mfjohanioi.  and  laboMrt  W  th«y  eoiwtitut^d  tk  people' 
weri-the  bone  and  iinew  of  theoountry,  the  reai  vomMuoxBofihi 
.natijial  weeith   although  in  tieir-  hL^  it  t  fuXd^d  iltj    ' 
•majfl  .har^ ;  and  he  told.th«n  it  wa.  their  bu^new  to  make*' 
oon.tant  effort  to  mamtam  their  right.  again.t  the  rioh  oapitaLtJ  « 
and  moneyed  eorporation.,  who,  by  Mlitie.  of  combining  together 
.  could  u.^ally  make  their  own  chu.  inti^mU  prevail  ag^nTt  a 
more  numeroua  body,  and  one 

It  wemi  that  fjiey  werlfnot  ilow  in  UMng  thii  advice,  for    ' 
many  merchant,  eoknplained  4o  me  .that  the  .mall  farmer,  had      ^ 
too  great  an  a.cfenden,qr.     No  feature,  indeed,  appeared  to  Z 
more  contra«ted  iri  4he  political  ^peot  of  Ameri^fand  GrSi 
Bn^m  than  thi.,  that  in  the  United  $tate.  theulemocracTd^i^ 

irj!:!""^^'*  ^""'^  iMidedWterct.  while  the  town.  iZ 
the^orfe  oonwrvative  wderaiid  are  often  aoou»d  by  the  lauded 
]Wrietor.^of.bei„g  to,  „i.^^^^  Every  ^liere  the  ambSla 
of  accumulating  r,che.  withouf  limit  i.  .o  manifct,  a.  to  incline 
n^e  to  adopt  iho  epmion  exprewed  to  me  by  «veral  rich  Bcton  . 
friend.,  -that  wealth  ha.  in  thi.  country  quite  a.  many  cha™ 

Ka^wr  r  r"^  ^"*^"°''°^  *^^  ^"^"°"°^'  "  i*  4tt  toV 
#  ftimh  linglishman  came  to  wttle  here,  he  would  be  disappointed 

5;!,.^^^^?^i^**'"'y  «»v«  l»i™  no  ^ciliiie.  in  Uking  aTad  in 

^hi^  ;.  but  th»  affluent  native,  do  not  pin^  for  inZnce' which 

W%^l^KVo«^«>^,  of  expocfed  to  derive J&om  their  riche.  •        - 

»•  W  evil  of  univer«il-.uffrage  iathe  h:re.i.tihle  temptation 

.  <^M^  A  needy  set  of  adventMrerr  to  make  nelitie.  a  trade 

and  to  dfevbte  all  their  time  to.  agitaflionrelectionSrilig,  and  Am' 

/^"*L.    ir""""'."^^"  '"^^*^*"^'     The- natural  ari.tooraoy 
of  a  i^pubho  con.i»t.  of  the  mo.^  eminenrmen  in  the  hbeTS 

_  pr^«i.ena-4awye»^  divine.,  and  phy«cia«.  of  note,  merchant.  ^ 
;.    IrlrTl    "'^r*  ^'"^"^"^  •"**  •^^^"'^^^  ™^«  of  celebrity  ,  aJd  ^^^ 

ZVl  't^'  ^  — -'^'  ^P*  ^  »•'  )~  ^^^  •  ^^^  on  their,  t^ 
time  to  h«k>,^mg4p  engage  ift,the  .tlife  of  election,  perpetually      ' 
go.n|  on.  and  ill  which  they  expo.e  thL«,ly^  to  much  calu3       • 
^nd  aqpu.at,on.,  which,  however  iJnfoWed..are.profe8«o«any 
^njunn.^  to.l>..rn      Th.  rlohu  cili^ui.  -«d»  Wighf  be  mor^in^ 


M 


i 


TT^ 


5* 


■ir>^'' 


"C"'^^' 


1. 


%  ■ 


y 


x>* 


.J» 


fi 


M> 


'K**5,5S'" 


■i^ry 


-■>■:»-«"■ 


« 


I 


4 


J 


5 


*fr  ',    ADyENTURE  IN  A  STAGE-COACH.  [Chap.  VI: 

-^ — : . .is*.^ , '• i. 

dependent  of  such  att^ls,  love  their  ease^dr  their  books,  and  from 
indolence  oft^n  abandon  the  field  to  the  more  ignorant ;  but  I 
met  with  many  optimisti.who  declared  that  whenever  %e  country 
is  threatened  with  any  great  danger  or  disgrace,  there  is  a  right- 
minded  majority  Whose  energies  cajti  be  ibused  effectively  into 
action.  Nevertheless,  the  sacrifices  required  on  such  occasions 
to  work  upon  the  popular  mind  are  so  great,  that  the  field  is  in 
danger  of  being  left  open,  on  all  ordinary  occasions,  to  the  dema- 
gogue. 

When  I  urged  tljiese  and  other  c^bjections  against  the  working 
of  their  republican  institutions,  I  was  sometimes  told  that  every 
political  system  has  its  inherent  vices  and  defects,  that  the  evil 
will  soon  be, mitigated  by  the  removal  of  ignorance  and  the  im- 
proved education  of  the  many.  Sometimes,  instead  of  an  argu- 
ment, they  would  ask  me  whether  any  of  the  British  colonies  are 
more  prosperous  in  commerce,  manufactures,  or  agriculture,  or  are 
doing  as  much  to  promote,  good  schools,  as  some  even  of  their  most 
democratic  states,  such  as  New  Hampshire  and  Maine  ?  "  Let 
ow  institutions,"  they  said,  "  be  judged. pf  by  their  fruits."  To 
such  an  appeal,  an  Englishman  as  much  struck  as  I  had  been 
with  the  recent  progress  of  things  in  those  very  districts,  and 
with  the  general  happiness,  activity,  and  contentment  of  all 
classes,  could  ojaly  respond  by  .echoing  the  sentiment  of  the  Chan- 
cellor Oxenstiern,  "  Quam  parvA  sapientifi.  mtmdus  gubernatur." 
How  great  must  be  the  amount  bf  misgovernraent  in  the  world 
in  general,  if  ^  democracy  like  this  can  deserve  to  rank  so  high 
in  the  comparative  scale  !  '  ^ 

0<*.  IQ.' — In  the  stage  coach,'  between  Franconia  and  Ply- 
mouth, in  New  Hampshire,  we  were  at  first  the  only  inside 
passengers ;  but  about  half  way  we  met  on  the  road  two  men 
and  two  women,  respectably  dressed,  who  might,  we  thought,  have 
come  frpm  some  of  the  sea-ports.  They  made  a  bargain 'with  thb 
driver  \o  give  them  inside  seats  at  a  cheap  rate.  As  We  were 
annoyed  by  the  freedom  of  thefar  matmefs  and  conversation,  I,  told 
the  coachman,  when  we  stopped  to  change'  horses,  that  we  had 
%  right  to  protection  against  the  adml^ion  of  company  at  half 
price,  and,  if  they  went  oa  furliier,  I  must  go  o|i  the  outside  with 


^^v^'^^^^^^^^gw  * 


^■x;*-y^'»'^^\- 


Chap.  VI.]    EEtUBN  FROM  THE  WHITE  MOUNTAINS. 


1 1 


my  ivife.     He  immediately  apologized,  and  went  up  to  the  two 
young  men  and  gav6  them  their  choice  to  take  tl#r  seats  behind 
,    him  or  be  left/on  the  road.     To  my  surprise,  they  quietly  accepted 
the  feymer  alternative.     The  ladies,  for  the  first  half  mUe;  were 
mut^/ then  burst  out  into  a  fit  of  laughtei^,  amused  at  the  ludicroiis 
position  of  their  companions  on  the  outside,  who  were  sitting  inV 
pelting  rain.      They  afj;erward  behaved  with  decorum,  and  I 
mentiQ^  the  incident  because  it  was  the  only  unpleasant  adven- 
ture of  the  kind  which  we  experienced  in  ^he  course  of  all  our 
travels  in  the  United  States.     In  general,  there  is  no  country 
where  a  woman  could,  jfiih.  so  much  comfort  an4  security,  under- 
take a  long  journey  alone.  , 
'^  As  we  receded  from  the  mountains,  following  the  banks  of  the 
nver  Pemigewasset,  the  narrow  valley  widened  gradually,  till, 
first,  a  small,  grassy,  alluvial  flat,  and,  at  length,  some  cultivated 
fields,  mtervened  between  the  stream  and  the  boundary  rocks  of 
mica  schist  and  granite.     OccasionaHy  the  low  river-plain  was 
separated   from  the  granite  by  a  terrace  of  sand   and  gravel. 
-Usually  many  boulders,  with  a  few  large  detached  blocks,  some 
of  them  nine  feet  in  diameter,  were  strewed  over  the  granite 
rocks.      These,  as  generally  throughout  New  England,  break 
out  here  and  there,  from  beneath  their  covering  of  drift,  in  smooth 
bosses,  or  rounded,  dome-shaped  forms,  called  ip  the- Alps  "  roches 
moutonh6es."      The.  contrast  is  very  picturesque^  between   the 
level  and  fertile  plain  and  the  region  of  lichen-covered  rock,'  or 
sterile,  quartzose  sand,  partially  clothed  with  tfe  native  ferest, 
now  in  its  autumnal  beauty,  and  ligh^d  up  by,  a  bright  sun. 
On  the  flat  ground  bordering  the  river,  we  pal^  mjjny  wagons 
laden  with  yellow  heads  of  Indian  corn,  over  wl^ich  were  piled 
many  a  huge  pumpkin  of  a  splendid  reddifch  orange  color.     Thewj 
vehicles  were  drawn  Ijy  oxen,  with  long  horof  spreading  out'' 
horizontally.                                                -t,        rw    r         ^ 

7  We  stopped  for  the  night  in  an  inland  village  on  which  %l» 
mari^me  name  of  Plyipoutb  has  been  bestowed.     H^re  w«  ip^l ' 
A  Sunday^     There  were  two  meeting-Houses  in  the  place;  <m% 
s  Congregational  and  the  otjwir  Methodurt.  which  shared  between 
them,  in  aoailj  uqmd  piupuiliuiis,  ihe  whole  population  orTTwV 


:.A' 


•*» 


.^ 


■r?" 


J*5^5^ir««.      S   A^vr-    -,,-"    CP^f^  ^*^'^  <*      ■^      '^^'-' 


>'^ 


-J  ^">*il*^w:4; 


"^^SF  '*^"^^???^  '"J  '"^^^^A 


PLYMOUTH,  NflW  HAMPSHIBB.  [Ghap.  VI 


"t 


township.     Wo  went  with  our  landlord  first  to  one,  and  than, 
in  the  afternoon,  to  the  other.     Each  service  lasted  about  seventy 
minutes,  and  they  were  so  arratiged  that  the  first  beigan  iiit  half- 
past  ten,  and  the  second  ended  at  two  o'clock,  for  the  convenience 
of  the  country  people,  wlio  came  ilt-whiales  of  all  kinds,  many 
of  theigi^  from  great  distances.    The  reading,  singing,  and  preach- 
i^  would  certainly  not  sa^ei[  by  comf^ison  with  the  average 
service  in  rural  districts  in  churches  of  the  Establishment  in 
Eiagland.     The  discourse  of  the  Methodist,  deUvered  fluently 
without  notes,    and  with  much  earnestness,   kept  his  hearers 
awake  ;    and  dnoe,  when  my  own  thoughts  wwe   wandering, 
they  Were  suddenly  recalled  to  the  pulpit  by  the(  Rattling  ques- 
'  t«ilfc*<-wiiether,   i^  some  intima,te  friend,   whom_j«4^)  li^d  lost, 
should  return  to  us  fro^oi  the  world  of  spirits,  his  messaged  would 
produce  moire  effect  o^  our  minds  thajD^  did  the  raising  of  Lazarus 
on  the  Jews  of  old  ?     He  boldly  affirmed  that  it  inrould  not.     I 
began  to  think  how  small  would  be  the  sensation  created  by  a 
miracle  performed  in  the  present  day  in  Syria  and  many  Eastern  - 
countries,  especially  in  Persia,  where  they  believe  in  the  pqwer 
of  their  own  holy  n^en  occasionally  to  raii^  persons  from  the  dead, 
in  comparison  to  its  effect  in  New  England  ;  and  how  readily  he 
Jews  of  old  h^ved  in  departures  from  the  ordinary  course  of 
nature,  by  the^in^rvention  of  evil  spirits  or  the  power  of  magic. 
But  i^  presume  the  preacher  merely  meant  to  say,  and  no  doubt 
his  doctrine  waa;,  true,  that  a  voice  or  sign  from  Heav^  would 
no  more  deter  men  from  sinning,  than  do  the  clear  dictates  of 
their  consciences,  in  spil^  of  which  they  yield' to  temptation. 

In  the  evening  I  wall^  jm  a  roofed  wooden  bridge,  resem* 
hling  many  in  Switzerland,  -vi^hich  here  spans  the  PeAiigewasset»* 
MMJ^  the  keeper  of  it  told  me  how  the  whole  fiver  is  frozen  over  ,* 
in  winter,  but  the  ice  being  broken  by  the  falls  above,  ddes  not 
carry  away  the  bridge.  He  also  related  how  his  grandfather, 
who  had  lived  to  be  an  old  man,  had  gone  up  the  river  with  an 
exploring  party  among  the  Indians,  and  how  there  was  a  bloody 
IpMl  at  the  forks  above,  where  the  Indians  w<^re  d^eatedj  after 
fiMrt  slaughter  on  both  ttdes. 

On  ealwing  the  stage  c6aoh  the  nsjct  morning,  on  our  way 


%l 


*     1 


V  -  --  -   ■  ■  - 

Chap.  YI.]  THl^OLOGICAL  DISCUSSION. 


88 


Bouth,  we  had  two  inside  feUow-travelers  with  us.      One  of 
them  was  a  blacksmith  of  Boston,  and  the  other  a  glovto  of 
Plymouth.    Jlfter  conversing  on  the  price  of  agricultural  irt^e- 
ments,  they  fell  mto  a  keen  controversy  on  several  biblical  ques- 
tions.      After  mentioning  instances  of  great  longevity  in- New 
Hampshire,  the  glover  raised  the  question,  whether  the  antedi- 
luvian  patriarchs  really  Uved  seven  or  eigk  centuries,  or  wheth- 
»er,  as  he  supposed,  we  were  to  take  these  passages  in  a  «<  myth- 
ical  sense."     "  For  his  part,  ha  thought  we  might,  perhaps,  in- 
terpret  them  to  mean  that  the  family  stock,  or  dynasty,  of  a  par- 
ticular  patriarch,  endured  for  those  long  periods."     He  also  went 
on^to  say,  that  the  Deluge  did  not  cover  the  highest  mountains 
hterally,  but  only  figuratively.     Against  these  latitudinarian  no- 
tions  the  blacksmith  strongly  protested,  declaring  his  faith  in  the  ' 
literal  arid  exact  mterpretaUon  of  the  sacred  record  ;ibut  at  the 
same  time  treating  his  antagonist  a«  one  who  had  a  right  to' in- 
dulge hifl  own  opinipns.     As  soon  as  there  was  a  pause  in  the 
conversation.  I  asked  tliem.ift%  approved  of  a  frequent  change 
of  minwters,  such  m  I  found  to  prevail  in  New  England— the 
Methodists  remaimng  ^nly  ti«ro  years,  and  the  (DoMregationalists 
only  four  or  six  at  the  utmost,  in  one  parish.     They  seera^ 
much  siwpnsed  to  learn  firom  me,  that  in  England  we  thought ^a' 
permanent  relation  between  the  pastor  and  his  flock  to  be  nat- 
ural  and  desirable.     Our  people,  they  observed,  are  fond  jof  va. 
nety,  and  tl»ere  would  always  be  danger,  when  they  grew  tired 
«*  P***^^®'-  of' their  running  after  others  of  a  different  sect 
"  Jisides,    siud  the  blacksmith,  "  how  ani  they  to  k£p  up  with 
UM  reading  of  the  day.  and  improve  their  minds,  if  they  remain 
forever  m  one  to^  ?     They  have  first  their  parish  duties,  then 
they  are  expected  to  write  twp  new  sermons  every  week,  usually 
referrmt  ^  tome  matters  of  interest  of  the  day  ;  but  if  they  have 
•  ^1  \^%  new  parish,  they  not  only  gain  ne>  ideas,  .but  much 
m&^,tot  they  may  then  preach  over  again  their  old  sermons  " 
Me  t^  told  me  that  he  had  not  visited  New  Hampshire  for 
ten  yeait,  and  w^  much  struck  wth  <he  refohn  which,  in  -that 

h»b,«  ^  ^  people,     mt.  Mason,  an  eminent  lawyer  of  Boston 


"-.ar 


'•■i-I     S/rrx-   ^^^t,^, 


^ti^rj^^i  j_jVH   •.^•-- 


96 


POST-OFFICE  ABUSES. 


[Chap.  VI 


Km 


&id  that  he, 
a  bot 
Ikiglaii 
We 


since  dead,  with  -whom  I  afterward  spoke  oil  the  sairie  subject, 
informed  me  that  much  stronger  measures  had  been  taken  in 
Massachusetts,  where  the  Legmiature  first  passed  a  la\L  that  no 
ipm  or  ardent  spirits  should  be  sold  without  a  license,  and  then 
me  magistrates  in  many  towifships  resolved  that  within  their 
limits  no  Hdens^i  should  be  granted.      "A  most  arbitrary  pro- 
ceeding," he  said,  "  and  perhaps  unconstitutional ;  for  the  Fed- 
eral Government  levies  a  duty  on  the  importation  of  ppirits,  and 
"this  is  a  blow  rtruck  at  their  revenue.     But  you  can  have  no 
^a,"  he  ad(kjdU,"  how  racceas  in  drinkmg  ruins  the  health  in  this 
chmate.     I  ^t  just  been  reading  the  life  of  Lord  Eldon,  aa^.^ 
able,  when  in  fuM  work,  to  take  with  impunity^ 
a  day,  wMch  would  kill  any  sedentary  New 
years." 
stage  when  we  reached  the  present  terminus  of 
the  Bbston  l^way  at  Concord,  and,  anxious  for  letters  frpin 
England,  went  immediately  to  the  post-office,  where  they  told*  us 
t^arthe  post-bag  had  been  sent  by  mistake  to  Concord  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, the  letters  of  that  township  having  been  forwarded  to 
this  place.     Such  blunders  are  attributable  to  two  causes,  for 
both  of  which  the  practical  good  sense  of  the  American  people 
will,  it  is  hoped,  sodh  find  a  cure.  •  Synonymous  appellations 
plight  be  modified  by  additions  of  north  and  south,  east  and  west, 
&c.  ;  and  the  General  Postroffice  might  publish  a  directory,  and 
prohibit  the  future  multiplication  of  the  same  names  in  a  coun- 
try where  not  only  new  towns,  but  new  states  are  every  day  start- 
ing into  existence.     The  other  evil  is  a  political  one  ;  the  prac- 
tice first,  I  am  told,  carried  out  unscrupulously  during  the  pres- 
Mentship  of  General  Jackson,  of  regarding  all  placemen,  do wi  to 
subordinate  officials,  such  as  the  village  post-master,  as  a  body 
of  electioneeriiig  agents,  who  must  support  the  federal  Govern- 
ment.     They  who  happen,  therefore,  to  be  of  opposite  opuiions, 
^ust  turn  out  as  often  as  there  is  a  change  of  ministry.     On 
fcre  ^an  on#  occasion  I  have  known  ih»  stage  make  a  eireiat 
^  of  several  miles  in  Massachusetts,  tj»  convey  the  mail  to  the 
pqstmaster'i  residence,  because,  forsooth,  in  the  said  >  village,  all 
tnp  hftfiWfH  w|ja,c,h  lay  in  the  4iroct  rod  bolongiii|^  to  tr uatwofiliy 


'»".  *> 
--"#&•. 


f.TFf'lt" 


Chap.,  VI.] 


LOWELL  FACTORIES. 


91 


■ji^ 


men  were  those  of  WUgs.  In  short,  the  maU,  like  the  cabinet 
at  Washington,  had  to  go  put  of  its  way  to  hunt  up  a  respectable 
democrat,  and.  he,  wh^n  found,  has  to  learn  a  new  craft.  By 
leaving  such  places  to  i  the  patronage  of  each  state,  this  class  of 
abuses  would  be  much  lessened. 

Oc^.  14.--Next  morning  we  received  all  our  letters  from 
±.ngla»d,  only  a  fortnight  old,  and  had  time  to  travel  seventy- 
hve  miles  by  railway  to  Boston  before  dark.     When  I  took  out 
the  tickets  they  told  me  we  had  no  time  to  lose,  saying,  «« Be  as 
spry  as  you  c^n,"  meinjng  "  quick,"  «« active."     From  the  cars 
Aye  saw  the  Merrimack  at  the  rapids,  foaming  over  the  granite 
rocks ;  and,  when  I  reflected  on  the  extent  of  barren  country 
aU  round  us,  and  saw  many  spaces  covered  with  loose,  moving 
sands,  like  the  dunes  on  the  coast,  I  could  not  help  admiring  the 
enterprise  and  industry  which  has  created  so'  much  wealth  in 
this  wilderness.     We  were  told  of  the  sudden  increase  of  the 
new  town  of  Manchester,  and  passed  LoweU,  only  twenty-five  > 
years  old,  with  its  population  of  25,000   inhabitants,  and  its 
twenty.four  churches  and  religious  societies.      Some  of  the  man- 
ufacturing companies  here  have  given  notice  Jhat  they  will  em- 
ploy no  one  who  does  not  attend  divine  worship,  and  whose  char- 
acter IS  not  strictly  moral.     Most  of  the  9000  factory  girls  of 
this  place,  concerning  whom  so  much  has  been  written,  ought 
not  to  be  compared  to  those  of  England,  as  they  only  remain  five 
or  SIX  years  in  this  occupation,  and  are  taken  in  general  from  a 
higher  class  in  society.     Bishop   Potter,  in  his  work  entitled 
"  The  School,"  tells  us  (p.  119)  «« that  in  the  Boott  factory  there 
were  about  950  young  women  employed  for  five  and  a  half  years 
and  that  only  one  case  was  known  of  an  illegitimate  birth,  and 
then  the  mother  was  aSi  Irish  emigrant." 

I  wag  informed  by  a  fellow-traveler  that  the  jmnt-stock  com- 
panies of  LoweU  have  a  capital  of  more  than  two  millions  ster- 
Img  invested.  "  Such  corporatiom,"  he  laid.  "  are  too  aristo- 
cratic  for  our  ideas,  and  can  combine  to  keep  down  the  price  of 
wages."  But  one  of  the  managers,  in  reply,  assured  me  that 
the  competition  of  rival  factories  is  gr^at.  wnd  thft  work  r,.nrIo 
pass  freely  f«an  one  company  to  another,  being  only  required  to 


r' 


"«J!i*iHI»JJ(iWIU-"Jf-* 


■USjh-^^TS^^r^i;  -I 


i:j     T" 


?.-^*. 


LOWBLt  FAOTOBIBS. 


[OhapIVI. 


sign  an  agreement  .to^give  a  fortnight's  notice  to  quit.  He  also 
maintained  that,  on  the  contrary,  they  are  truly  democratic  insti- 
tutions, the  shares  heing  as  loW  as  500  dollars,  and  often  held 
by  the  operatives,  aa  some  of  them  were  by  his  own  domestic 
servants.  By  this  system  the  work-people  are  prevented  from 
looking  on  the  master  manufacturers  as  belonging  to  a  distinct 
class,  having  different  interests  from  their  own.  The  holder*  of 
«mall  shares  have  aU  the  advantfiges  of  partners,  but  are  not 
answerable  for  the  debts  of  the  establishment  beyond  their  de- 
posits. They  can  e2;amine  all  the  accoujnts  annually,  when  there 
is  a  public  statement  of  their  afiairs. 

An  English  overseer  told  me  that  he  and  other  foremen  were 
receiving  here,  and  in  other  New  England  mills,  two  doll^s  and 
two  and  a  half>4ollara  a  day  (8s.  Qd.  »nd  10s.  ^d.). 


V^ 


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■       '* 

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ss^^wis- 


CHAPlllR  VII  . 

Plymouth,  Massachusetta-^Plymouth  Beach.— Marine  Shells.— Quicksand 

—Names  of  Pilgrim  Fathers.— Forefathers'  Day Pilgrim  Relics.- 

Their  Authenticity  considered— Decoy  Pond.— A  Barn  Traveling.— 
Excursion  to  Saletti.— Museum.— Warrants  for  Execution  pf  Witches.— 
.  Causes  of  the  Persecution.- Conversation  with  Colored  Abolitionists- 
Comparative^  Capacity  of  White  and  Negro  Jlaces.- Half  Breeds  and 
Hybrid  Intelfects.    . 

Oct:  15,  1845 — ^After  spending  a  day  in  Boston,  we  set 
out  by  stage  for  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  thirty-eight  miles  in 
a  southwest  direction,  for  I  wished  to  see  the  spot  where  the 
Pilgrinj  Fathers  landed,  and  where  the  first  colony  was  founded 
in  New  England.  In  thq  suburbs  of  Boston  we  went  through 
some  fine  streets  called  the  S<Juth  Gove,  the  houses  built  on  piles, 
where  I  had  seen  a  marsh  only  three  years  ago.  It  was  a  bright 
day,  and,  as  we  skirted  the  noble  bay,  tho  deep  blue  sea  was  seen 
enlivened  with  the  white  sails  of  vessels  laden  with  granite  from 
the  quajrries  of  Qumcy,  a  village  throi;^h  which  we  soon  after- 
ward passed,  /  •  - 

When  we  had  journeyed  eighteen  miles  into  the  Country  I 
was  told  we  were  in  Adams-street,  and  after^^d,  when  in  a 
winding  lane  with  trees  on  each  side,  and  withSfet  a  house  in 
sig:ht,  that  we  were  in  Washifigton-street.  But  nothing  could 
surprise  me  again  after  hiving  been  told  one  day  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, when  seated  on  a  rock  in  the  midst  of  the  wild  woods,  far 
from  any  dwelling,  that  I  was  in  the  exact  center  of  the  town. 

d*  God  made  the  country,  and  man  made  the  town," 
sang  the  poet  Cowper :  a&d  I  can  well  imagine  how  the /village 
pupils  must  be  puziled  until  the  meatting  of  this  verse  his  been 
expounded  to  them  by  the  schoolmiUrtiBr.  m  '    . 

On  th^  whole,  the  scenery  of  the  low  granitic  region  bordering 
the  Atlatitic  in  New  England  preserves  a  uniform  character  over 
a  wide  space,  and  is  witiHout  otnUnff  fAy 


space, 


king  JeatBrea;  yet  occiiBioTially^ 


the  landscape  is  most  agreeable.     At  one  time  wo  skirted  a 


'^'-'  ■p^^^StM';''P'9^'f^?'"1^'' '*'' '''^  """  *"■-''  ■^"r«-K'*-r**T 


^^''  \imimif 


04 


PLYMOUTH  BBAOH. 


[0% 


■AP.  Vll. 


ioflLer  a  small  Idke,  then 


swamp  bprdetejld  fey  red  cedars,  _.,^„ _,,  

hills  of  barren  sand,  then^^**\*'Qod  w^ieire  ,t!ie  sumach  and  oak, 
with  red  and  yellow  fadflig  leaves,  were  mixed  with  pines ;  then 
suddenly  a  bare  rock  of  granite  or  gndss  ris^  up,  with  one  side 
quite  perpendicular,  fifteen  or  twenty-five  feet  high,  and  covered 
on  its  summit  with  birch,  fir,  and  oak. 

We  admired  the  fine  avenues  of  drooping  elms  in  the  streets 
of  Plymouth  as  we  entered  and  went  to  a  small  old-fashioned 
inn  called  the  Pilgrim  House,  where  I  hired  a  carriage,  in  which 
the  landlord  d^rove  us  at  once  to  see  the  bay  and  visit  Pljrmouth 
beach.  This  singular  bar  of  sand,  three  miles  long,  runs  across 
part  of  the  bay  directly  opposite  the  town,  and,  two  miles  distant 
from  it,  serving  as  a  breakwater  to  the  port ;  in  spite  of  which  the 
sea  has  been  making  grea'tTnroads,  and  might  have  swept  away  all 
the  wharves  but  for  this  protection.  As  the  bar  was  fast  wasting 
away,  the  Federal  Government  employed  engineers  to  erect  a  wood- 
en framework,  secured  with  piles,  a  mile  long,  which  has  been  filled 
with  stoK^^nd  which  has  caused  an  acfculnulation  of  sand  to  take 
plEtce.  ThiFbeach  reminded  iM§|he  bar  of  Hurst  Castle,  in  Hamp- 
shire ;  and  in  both  cases  a  s^|^S>nters  the  bay  Where  the  beach 
joins ;the  land.  It  is  well^^^p  that  the  Plymouth  bar  was* a 
narrow  neck  of  land  eighty  yi^^gfo ;  and  one  of  the  inhabitants 
told  me  that  when  a  boy  he  hm  gathered  nuts,  wild  grapes,  and 
plums  there.  Even  fifty  years  ago  some  stumps  of  trees  were 
still  remaining,  whereas  nothing  now  can  be  seen  but  a  swamp, 
a  sea-beach,  and  some  shoals  adjoining  them.  Here^  I  spent  an 
hour  with  my  wife  collecting  shells,  and  we  found  eighteen  species, 
twelve  peculiar  to  America,  and  six  common  to  Europe ;  namely, 
Buccinum  undatum.  Purpura  lapillus,  Mya  arenarid,  Cyp- 
rifM  islandica,^ MotUola  papuana,nB,nd  Mytilus  edulis,  all  spe- 
cies which  have  a  high  northern  range,  and  which,  the  geologist 
will  remark,  are, found  fossil  in  the  drift  or  glacial  deposits  both 
of  North  America  and  Europe,  and  have  doubtless  continued  to 
inhabit  both  hemispheres  from  that  era.  South  of  Cape  Cod  the 
mollusca  are  so  different  from  the  assemblage  inhabiting  the  sea 
n9rth  of  that  cape,  that  we  may  consider  it' as  the  limit  of  tv/o 

--testaoeftr - — —  - -, -== 


m 


\ 


;'*" 


^ 


AP. 


V^  MARINE  SHBLLS.-QUIOKSAND. 


95 


^  The  most  conspicuous  shell  scattered  orer  the  smoothly 
was  the  large  ^d  ponderous  Mactra  sdidimma,  some  specimens 
ofjkch  were  six  mches  and  a  half  in  their  greatest  len^h,  and 
much  largerand  heavier  than  any  British  bivalve.  The  broad 
aiid  de^  inuscular  impression  in  the  interior  of  each  valve  is 

g«od  zoologist  of  Boston  that  this  moUusk  has  been  known  to 
c  ose  upon  the  coot,  or  velvet  duck  (FuUgula  Jusca)  and  thl 
bhie-winged  teal  (Anas jiiscors),  whin  thelTaS^ 
on  them,  holding  these  feathered  enemies  so  faJH  the  bea:k  of 
claw  that  the  tide  has  come  up  and  drowned  1^ 

After  we  had  .been  some  time  engaged  in  collecting  sheUs,  we 
turned  round  and  saw  the  horses  <rf  our  vehicle  sLing  in  a 
quicksand,  plunging  violently,  and  evidently  in  the  greatest  temr    - 
lor  a  few  mmutes  our  landlord,  the  driver,  expected  that  Z 
and  the  carriage  and  himself  would  have  been  swaUowed  up^ 

reld%'  l-^*  \'*  ^^  ^^^'^"^  *^^™'  ^^d^ft^'  they  had 

rested  for  some  time,  though  stiU  trembling,  they  had  strength 

The  wind  was  bitterly  cold,  and' we  learned  that  on  the  even- 
mg  before  the  sea  had  been  frozen  over  near  the  shore;  yet  it 
was  two  motaths  later  when,  on  the  22d  of  Deoembto  1620 
now  oaUed  Forefathers'  Bay.  the  Pilgrin,s.  consisting  'of  m 
sou  s.  landed  here  ftom  the  Mayflower.  No  wonder  that  half 
of  thera  perished  from  the  severity  of  the  first  winter.  Thev 
who  escaped  seem,  as  if  in  compensation,  to  have  been  rewarded 

TLTf         r^""*^'     ^^  '**  "  *«  graveyard  the  tombs 
of  not  a  few  whose  ages  ranged  from  seventy-nine  to  ninety-nine 
years.     The  names  inscribed  on  their  monuments  are  venr  char 
ac.er.stic  of  P„„,an  fares,  with  a  somewhat  grotesque  Sixtoe 
of  other  very  familiar  ones,  as  Jerusha.  Sally,  Adoniram,  Consider. 

tI  N  TT'.^T-  ?""y-  ^"°''«'  E'ipl'alet.  Mercy,  &c 
The  New  Englanders  laugh  at  the  people  of  the  •/  Old  Colonv" 
for  remaining  m  ,  primitive  state,  and  are  hoping  that  the  rjl- 
ri!Z°t^^  ■;!?!^f°!°Piet.,  may  soon  t,,olU^^^ 


go  a-Iicad.     But  they  who  visit  the  town  for  the  sake  of  old 


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"'-S^,"    SC 


9%  PILGMM  rATHEB|>^RBLtoS.  ICnkrHl. 

MMociations,  will  dot  eoilt^lam  of  the  antique  style  of  many  of 
the  btdldings,  and  the  loHr  ilooun  with  paneled  wallis,,  and  huge> 
woodeii  heams  projeotiBg  finm  the  eeiUngs,  such  an  I  liever  salUr 
elsewhere  in  America.  Sotke  hduites  built  of  brick  brought  froth 
Hoirand,  notwithstanding  the  abtmdAnce  of  brick-earth  in  the 
neighborhood,  Were  pointed  out  to  us  in  LeydenHstreet,  *)  called 
from  the  last  town  in  Europe  where  the  pilgrims  sojotinied  after 
they  had  been  *^riven  out  of  theit  native  country  b^„  religious 
persecution.  Tti  some  private  houses  we  were  intereisted  in" 
many  venerated  heir-looms,  kept  as  lelicai  of  the  first  settlers, 
.and  among  others  an  antique  bhair  of  carved  wood,  which  came 
over 'in  the  Mayflower,  and  still  retaitis  the  marks  of  the  Staples 
Which  fixed  it  to  the  floor  of  the  cabin,  ^his^  together  With  a 
seal  of  Governor  WinsIoW,  Was  shown  me  hitf  an  elderly  lady,  ' 
1^.  Haywood,  daughter  of  a  Winslow  and  a  White,  and  virho 
received  them  from  her  grandmothet.  In  a  public  building, 
called  Pilgrim  Hall,  We  saw  other  memorials  of  the  same  kind  ; 
as,  for  example,  a  chest  ot  cabinet,  which  had  belonged  to  Pere- 
grine White,  the  first  child  bom  in  the  colony,  and  which  cartie 
to  him  from  his  mother,  and  had  been  preserved  to  the  fifth 
generation  in  the  same  family,  when  it  Was  presented  by  them 
to  the  Museum.  By  the  Side  of  it  was  a  pewter  dish,  also  given 
by  the  White  family.  In  the  wume  collection,  they  have  a  chair 
btought  over  in  the  Mayfloweri  and  the  helmet  of  Bang  Philip, 
the  Indian  chief,  with/whom  the  first  settlers  had  many  a  des- 
perate fight. 

■  A  huge  fragment  of  granite,  a  ^boulder  which  lay  sunk  in  the 
bMU)h,  has  lUways  been  traditionally  declared  to  have  been  the 
exact  spot  which  the  feet  of  the  Pilgrims  first  trod  when  they 
landed  here  ;  and  part  of  this  same  rock  still  ren^ains  on  the 
wharf,  while  another  portion  has  been  removed  to  the  center  of 
the  town,  'and  inclosed  within  an  iron  railing,  on  which  the 
names  of  forty-two  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  are  inscribed.  They 
who  can  not  sympathize  warmly  with  the  New  Englanders  for 
cherishing  these  precious  relics,  are  not  to  be  envied,  and  it  it  a 
praiseworthy  custom  to  celebrate  an  Aannual  festival,  not  only 
hftTfli  bnt  in  fihrfm  snyftni]  thnnsnnd  milaw  distant      Often  at 


h 


■^ 


^f^ 


^ 


Chap.  VII.] 


PEREGRINB  WHITE. 


97 


New  Orleans,  and  in  other  remote  parts  of  the  Union,  we  hear 
of  settlers  from  the  North  ineeting  oh  the  22d  of  December  to 
commemorate  the  birth-day  of  New  England;  and  when  they 
speak  fondly  of  -their  native  hills  and  vaUeys,  and  recall  their 
early  recollections,  they  are  drawing  closer  the  ties  which  bind 
together  a  variety  of  independent  States  into  one  great  confeder- 
ation. 

Colonel  Perkins,  of  Boston,  well  known  for  his  mmiificence, ' 
especially  m  founding  the  Asylum  for  the  BUnd,  informed  me, 
m  1846,  that  there  was  but  one  link  wanting  in  the  cham  of 
personal  communication  between  him  and  Peregrine  White,  the 
first  white  child  born  in  Massachusetts,  a  few  days  after  the 
Pilgrims  landed.    "White  lived  to  an  advanced  age,, and  was 
,  known  to  a  man  of  the  name  of  Cobb,  whom  Colonel  Perkins 
visited,  in  1807,  with  some  friends  who  yet  survive.      Cobb  (lied 
m  1808,  the  year  after  Colonel  Perkins  saw  Mm.     He  was  then 
blind;  but  his  memory  fresh  for  every  thing  which  had  happened 
m  his  ftianhood.      He  had  served  as  a  soldier  at  the  taking  of 
Louisbourg  in  Cape  Breton,  in  1745,  and  remembered  ^hen 
there  were   many  Indians  near  Plymouth.      The  inhabitants 
occasionally  fired  a  cannon  near  the  town  to  frighten  them,  and 
to  this  cannon  the  Indians  gave  the  name  of  •«  Old  Speakum,"  . 
When  we  consider  the  grandeur  of  the  results  which  have 
been  realized  in  the  interval  of  225  years,  since  the  Mayflower 
sailed  into  Plymouth  harbor— how  in  that  period  a  nation  of 
twenty  millions  of  souls  has  sprung  into  existence  and  peoiM^a 
vast  continent,  and  covered  it  with  cities,  and  churches,  s^li 
colleges,  and  raihoads,  and  filled  its  rivers  and  ports  with  steam^ 
boats  and  shipping— we  regard  the  Pilgrim  reUcs  with  that  kind 
of  veneration  whieh  trivial  objects  usuaUy  derivfe  from  high  an- 
tiquity  alone.     For  we  measure  time  not  by  the  number  of  arith-  ** 
metioal  figures  representing  years  or  centuries,  but  by  the  import- 
ajoce  of  a  long  series  of  events,  which  strike  the  imagination. 
When  I  expressed  these  sentiments  to  a  Boston  friend,  he  asked 
me,  "Why,  then,  may  w<vnot  believe  in  the  relics  of  the  oariy 
Christians  displayed  at  Rome,  which  they  wy  the  mother  of 
Conntitntiao  brought  homv  fiwn  ike^Hxiriaastimlwttma  em. 


::%^}Siiil^msilisiStitmSiair'-<iMam 


96 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  RELICS.  [Chap. 


vn. 


.1- 

'■}■ 


Ws  after  Chn8t--8uch.  for  example,  as  the  true  cross,  the  cradle 
m  which  the  infant  Jesus  lay,  the  clothes  in  which  he  was  wrap- 
V^  up,  and  the  table  on  which  the  last  Supper  was  laid  "*     The 
Puritans  also  believed   as  do  their  descendants,  that  they  were 
suffering  in  the  cause  of  religious  truth,  and  this  feeling  may  have 
»  imparted  addrtional  sanctity  to  aU  memorials  of  the?  exile  and 
^Z^'"'  V  r^^T  ^"^^'"P^^^Wy  greater  must  have  been  the 
veneration  felt  fey  the  eaxly  Christians  for  all  that  belonged  to 
their  divme  teacher ! '     These  observations  led  me  to  dweU  on    ^ 
the  relative  authenticity  of  the  relics  in  the  two  cases-th^  clear- 
«Z,      t!  I'^^^P^  evidence  ii^  the  one,  its  worthlessness  in  the    - 

,  Ti!  ;  .1  ^'^  ^"'^y  ^'^  ^^""^  *^«  «t'ength  of  every  chain 
of  histon^gl  testimony,  like  that  of  a  chain  ofbrass  or  irol  m^ 
be  measn^^by  the  force  of  its  weakest  link.     The  earli^  S 

of  the  sacred  objects  said  to  have  been  obtained  by  Queen  Heler 
there  are  more  links  absolutely  wanting,  or  a  «eateTcha^  of 
years  without  any  records  w)i%ve,,  thZ  the  whTperiodXt 
s^arates  our  times  from  tho4%  the  Pilgrim  Fathe^  ^S 
:^tV't*!w  :i*'^  notorious  impostures'of  the  molks  of  htr 

f  W  !i    !^  ■      **  "^^^  ''"*"""^  ^^*P^  ^^^^^  i*  was  pret^ded 
th|t  tjie  true  cross  had  been  preserved,  and  another  century  be-  j^ 
fore  It  was  proved  to  be  genuine  by  miracles,  and  a  still  further  Jv 

ol  a  dead  pejson— the  extravagance  of  supposing  that  the  Chrirf^ 
tians  when  they  escaped  with  difficulty  from  Jerusalem,  just  iT 
fore^e  siege,  should  have  carried  with.them  in  the^Xht^ 

!Z!!rr'p  r~  °^  ^'t'""''  "  ^^^^  **^^^'  ^^^^  ^  ^^  ^eu 

3         u  ^      ''^  '^"^  ^  *^"  genuineness  of  aU  the  Pilgrim 
treasures  shown  me  at  Plymouth  and  elsewhere  I  indulged  ertSr^ 

It  Ll    T  ^"^  "^l  r^'^'''''  ™  ^"*"'»>«1  ^^  the  Muse  Jn 

IJ^  ^T  '^  ^"™^*"'"  ^^^°**  ^'^^  ^«'  ^  the  May- 

flower was  pointed  out  to  me.  and  the  antiquary  who  was  my 

Chr^tendom,  has  been  said  to  be  plentiful  enough  to  build  a  man- 
of-wir,  so  It  might  be  doubted  whether  a  ship  of  the  line  would        / 
/   *  Spoond  Tfttveb  of  an  Irish  Gentleman.  1838.  vd.  H.  p.  1M       . 


J  #.'S;dta4a3i^tM^i,  ^.. .  „ 


-«Lt^     Aj    si.UiL>i[  4fiS^SU^1h.JS.JliXa:^\^i^ 


■;  "Y-4>^fl 


w,^.^^^X^ 


/ 


/ 


Ohap.  VII.J 


# 


^ « 


DBCOy  PONB. 


— ^ '  '•» 

oontaia  aU  the  Wvy  iwides'  which  freurhted  the  Mavfl„        > 
,      .  her  first  voyage,  although  die  wa.  a  veJS  rfoSv  ^m^^  "? 
.      •"mediately  wooUeoted  a  lanre  hear»tau!  ^-Z  i  IV""*-     ^ 
.     18'42,  ia  the  «x)m.  of  the^toS  '5'''*'7'"f  J  had  «en  in 

liey^hl  »e  had  co»e  otrtS."  MayS  l^^  J^'S'* 

that  formidably  Indian  warier  w2^  1?  ^^l"^  *■*  which 
wa,  there,  m^auring  Wo  W^  u  I'  ^t  ^'^'^  *'"«•  •»»' 
leng*.  and  five  ^ iL^r^\C^7^^l!^\^  '"^^ 
S:^^*  hetdt*^^'"-  they  ohtain:?^  IrhL'^^; 
we.^ni'^'';^^,^^™?^  ^""tl''"*  "^-W'  ""••"^ 

«u^ » ..  Ma^^tt^Ati^y- 'zrr„f*°^t- 

Ib^O,   ««for  you  are  aware,"  he  added    «' that  tK«  iTtT      * 

which  my  impUcit  fiuth  ZityJv^\hl^  ^e  cWm,  with 
»der  how  maSy  of  the  ohiSi  ^ruhl^Ti^"  I^""  *"  """- 
«.  much  intere..  might  have  been  ^Zl.^o^7^  T^^"^, 
makem  m  the  did  country,  and  «nt 3  m  .T  ^  ?''^' 
Byron  hae  Mid^  *"  *""  '"«'  ""loButs. 

"  There',  not  .  joy  thi.  worM  e«i  gi,.  ui.  a„,  i,  w...  awy  •" 

^d  jome  may  think  the  .«n.  if  certain  line,  of  hiitorioal  re- 

of  the  olden  time_tre.!»,~^  iT  ^       '  ""*  «*""^  ""i" 

band  who  fir.'".:;;i:rrret:h:^'^e:T;':'i 'n 

de»rve  to  be  handed  down  with  reverenuTc  *  t'po^w 

theXTE-r^Tirr  '»,«<-^-^ - 

a*,     ai^uuiumg  in  the  middTe  of  a  d^^t  of  watw 


wai  a  tame 


;i^;:-it.. 


.'^k'^kk^^ 


^««%  7,  ^  V  »  "'  'V^  ' 


'  . 


/ioo 


BX0UR9ION  TO  SALEM. 


[Chap.  VII. 


goose,  having  one  leg  tied  by  a  string  to  a  small  leaden  weight ; 
and  near  it  were  a  |row  of  wooden  imitations  of  geese,  the  sight, 
of  which,  and  the  cri«  of  the  tame  gooee,  attract  the  wild  birds. 
As  soon  as  they  fly  down  they  are  shot  by  sportsmen  of  a  true 
New  England  stamp,  not  like  Ae  Indian  hmiters,  impatient  of 
a  sedentary  life  or  steady  labor,  but  industrious  cobblers,  each  sit- 
ting all  day  at  his  own  door,  with  his  loaded  gun  lying  by  his 
Bidcj  his  hands  occupied  in  stitching  "russet  brogans"  or  boots 
for  the  southern  n«^[roes,  to  be  sold  at'^the  rate"  of  twenty  cents,  or 
tenpence  a  pair.  After  working  an  hour  or  two,  he  seizes  his 
gun,  and  down  comes  a  goose,  which  may  fetch  in  the  Boston 
market,  in  full  season,  two  and  a  half  dollars — ^the  value  of  a 
dozen  pair  of  brogans. 

As  we  approached  theca^i^l^KWe  met  a  large  wooden  bam 
drawn  by  twenty-four  oxen.     It  ^  placed  on  rollers,  which 
"^  were  continually  shifted  from  behind  forward,  as  fast  as  the  bam 
'   passed  oveif  them.     The  removal  of  this  large  building  had  be- 
come necessary,  because  it  stood  directly  in  the  way  of  the  new 
railway  from  Boston  to  Plymouth,  which  is  to  be  opened  in  a  few 
weeks.     A  feUow-traveler  told  us  of  a  wooden  meeting-house  in 
Hadley,  whiofi  had  been  trailsferred  in  like  manner  to  a  more 
populous  part  of  the  township^     "In  English  steeple-chases/' 
,  said  he,  "  the  church  itself,  I  believe,  does  not  take  part  ?" 

Nov.  6 — Made  an  excursion  to  the  seaport  of  Salem,  aboiit 
fourteen  miles  to  the  N.E.  of  Boston,  a^place-of  17,000  faihab- 
itants.  / 

Dr.  Wheatland,  a  young  physician,  to  whom  I  had  gone 
without  letters  of  introduction,  politely  showed  us  over  the 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  of  which  he  was  curator;  and 
over  ancther  full  of  articles  illustrative  of  the  arts,  manners,  and 
customs  of  the  East  Indies,  China,  and  Japan  ;  fttthis  city  is  a 
great  resort  of  retired  merchants  and  sea-captains.  In  both  col- 
lections there  are  a  variety  of  objects  which  may  appear,  on  a 
hasty  view,  to  form  a  heterogeneous  and  unmeaning  jumble,  but 
which  are  really  curious  and  valuable.  Such  repositories  ought 
to  accompany  public  libraries  in  every  largo  city,  for  they  aflbrd 
a  kind  of  instruction  which  can  not  ht  obuined  fmm  httrtki     Tn 


♦  r 


i^J.       )   I     i^   e  a^i^^sllk^baii-A     i.-Jh    i^ 


^    :l     i      ^ 


'«i       ^ 


t^^'^a^. 


Chap.  Vn.]  '■"-■%t^i«^*|rfUSBUIiii  ■ 


101 


pubho  I«to«,  which  ^  much  encouraged  heir^,  «,d  are  effeotire 
m««"  of  .t»n»^atm|  the  niind,  of  aU  ol««e..  especiaUy  the^^ 

L^ri^.^^'  J"  '""Kf"  l»  oon^nien%  «ioomm^ted  id 
a^pnyate  hou«,,  I  wa.  glad  of  ia  opportunity  of  examining  the 

t^of^  wh.eh  remmded  me.  by  their  «»»ted  outline,  of  the 
teea.  of  the  fossil  Zeuglodm,  hereafter  to  he  mentioned      I  wal 

had  ;not  been  Aegleoted,  for  people  are  often  aa  imoranr«f  Z 
'^^^^  -f  t^.fo^on  they  inhabit.  e.peeiaUro?SLTak«! 
nveis.  and  the  eea.  as  of  the.flora  and  fauna  of  the  antinoda. 
Mjny  e^^ou.  kg-book.  of  the  early  sea.ap.ain.  of  Z  ^"^Z 

^^^.^^TT"  '^'"^  "^  ^^^"^y  <^  dist.nt'^oyag;? 
are  preserved  here,  and  attest  the  daring  spirit  of  those  Cdv 

a  smgle  ohart  or  map.  except  that  anall  one  of  the^^^ttM  ^ 
Meroator's  projection,  contaiied  in  Guthri,;.  Geograriiy.  1^^ 
««d  no  sextants  but.  working  their  deaa^reckoning  with  chalk 

Th^t;?'  "^T*  "  *''.»»"'t6^iti''"  with  theirhand  at  noon. 
They  had  usuaUy  no  capital,  but  started  with  a  few  bead,  and 
tnnkets  and  m  exchange  fcr  these  triHes  oftto  obtained  the  ddn. 
of  sea^ttw.  m  tb»  Oregon  territory,  each  worth  no  le«,  tSn  1 00 

f^iZrt  ^"^.l^  "''^"'f  »»''»'-*»«»  i»  the  Sandwich  Island." 
and  Urtered  these  and  other  articles  in^hina  for  tea.  On  such 
dender  m«ns,  and  «,  Utely  a.  after  the  separation  of  the  colonies 
fiom  England,  at  a  tmie  when  there  was  not  a  ringle  American 

^L^lT'"  *•  ^f ""  "  ^^'^  ""  *»  P™t~t  thrc^m 
meroe.  d,d  many  merchants  of  Borton  and  aOem  lay  the  foundv 
tion.  of  the  prmcely  fortune,  they  now  enjoy 

In  the  couiw  of  the  day  we  visited  the  oourt-hou«  at  Salem 
where  they  keep  the  warrant.  i«ued  by  the  judge,  to  the  wX 
dieriff  m  the  year.  1692  and  1693.  for  the  exZtion  of  witeh« 
condemned  to  death.     Here  we  read  th*  depositions  of  witaZ^ 

ITZ  ':^  IT  "  *""*  ""'"■'"•  ""d  hors^bad  died.  anST; 
cat,  had  been  taken  iU,  and  that  «  man  had  been  pierced  by  - 


^ 


-1 


huttingu.^  u.  th,  depth  oi  iour  ini.rtir;;oS^^* 


.•K.ii  ij«&.    JU^ 


m 


*i 


1<» 


Ex!B0UTI0N  OF  WITCHES.         .       [Cpaf.  VH. 


M^^™  ^K  ^''r'  ""•""•o  Court  at  the  tim.  of  the  tri.1 
^rwarf  «««fe««i  to  a  eompiraoy.     In  the  evening  we  walked 

vinLH*  r^?"''  "«*  .*»  *^«d«  'fc™  we  refleet  that  the« 
vwtan.  of  a  dark  «.penitition  ^re  tried,  « late  a.  the  year  16^ 

Z^T^rl  *"  "r  '^■'  "  "P'*''*  "  «' Matthew 

qlidemic  leaembUngebileMv  raced  «t  ♦!,.  «^  •    m  ^  ? 
and  1»iD<r  .«riK„^  P"«W  «g»a  at  the  tune  in  Massaehnsetts, 
l^d^  attnbuted  to  witehoraft,  «,lemn  ftrt.  and  meeting,  fo^ 

i^tal^?  '^  oonjeo»t.ng  and  eonfirming  the  popuUr  belief 
"  t  t^^T^li*-?' •r*""*  "f  *•  fn-iltT™  thought 
rftt-ILr^  ^^l  ?'  *'  *^"'«'  tk«  "O'M  imagination 
^tl  "^  r  T^P*^  "*  *»  ""P"*  """o  individual  tf  be  the 
author  of  hB  raflering^  and  hi.  e,4denc  that  he  had  »en  «^ 

~sr  iTi.'^.i!?'*^ '°""'»- »-  »im  -r^^*^ 

^  Z    a„?^"f  "^  T*  *"y  per»n.  were  in  pri«,„  await- 

ra^rtrate,  when  th<^  delurion  waa  diwipated  by  chaiBes  beinir 
fe~»ght  ag«n*  «i.  ♦!«,  of  the  Governor  Ph  p^,  a^r»me  of 
the  near^t  relativeaof  Matljer.  an  influential  i^ine  T W 
am  f«.nd  tl»t  by  a,  the  greater  number  of  atS'  had  b^ 

ZTJ^M    ^  "irr*  "'  *  ™'™'  ""d  f"™  *i»  -"tive 

rL^^  mT^tL^^  ""^  "r^l:*  oha'ire.  again.t 
""wwoi-r     ilM  tart  eiecntiona  for  witchcraft  in  England 

•  pee  "GrriiM.-.  Hirtory,"  „!.  j.  „!,.  y.  p.  392:  / 


h,  - 


'^'^^^^^-■^i^' 


Chap.  VII.J  OAUSBS  OF  THE  PERSECUTION.  ' 


103 


m^H  Ki  w^^'  fe"t/tai  later,  m  1766.  the  Seceders  in 
Scotland  publiahed  an  act  of  their  associate  Presbytery,  denounc- 
mg  that  memorable  act  of  the  English  parliament  which  repealed 
aU  the  penal  statutes  against  witchcraft. 

to  f^^  ,^"f^. '«^^f  "f «  paid  by  the  Puritann  and  Scotch  Seceders 

holJ  t/'^f  r^  ^^"^'^  ®°"P*^*"  (^'  ^^««d.  they  did  not 
hold  the  Old  Testament  in  greater  veneration  than  the  New) 
was^the  chief  cause  of  the  superstition  which  led  to  these  judicial 

sects  rejected  the  miracles  ascribed  to  the  Christian  saints  of  the 

n«?  .T'  ^°*^^  **^«y  ^^'^  ^^  supported  by  sufficient  his- 
torical testmiony.  They  had  stood  forward  in  the  face  of  cruel 
persecutions  courageously  to  vindicate  the  right  of  private  judg- 

rl'rv'r.  7  ^f  ''"^^  ''''  '"^y  the  privilege,  but  the  duty, 
ot  eveiy  Chnstian,  layman  or  ecclesiastic,  to  exercise  his  reason 

t^nC  ^'f,^;^''^^  ^P  ^li^dly  to  the  authority  of  an  earthi; 
teachej.     Yet  if  any  one  dared,  in  1 692,  to  call  in  question  the 

iTZ't  1  '  ^^^f '^ft'^^  ^as  stigmatized  as  an  infidel,  and 
refuted  by  the  story  of  the  Witch  of  Endor  evoking  the  ghost  of 
the  dead  Samiiel.  Against  the  recurrence  of  such  dreadful 
crimes  as  those  perpetrated  in  the  years  1602-93,  society  is  now 
secured  not  by  judges  and  juries  of  a  more  conscientious  charac- 
TnJ'AT^T  "^f^  ^"^  '^"«^^^"'  responsibility,  but  by  the  general 
spread  of  knowledge,  or  that  more  enlightened  public  cminli 
which  can  never  exist  in  the  same  perfection  in  the  minds  ofTS' 
imtiated  few,  so  long  as  the  multitude  with  whom  they  must  be 
m  contact  are  kept  in  darkness.  *  j         v  u« 

Ck  our  return  from  Salem  to  Boston,  we  found  the  seats  im- 
mediately before  us  in  the  railway  car  occupied  by  two  colored 
men.  who  were  laughing  and  talking  famiUarly  with  two  negro 
women,  apparently  servant  maids.  The  women  left  us  at  th^ 
urst  station,  and  we  then  entered  into  conversation  with  the 
men  who.  perceiving  by  our    accent,   that   we  were   foreiim- 

Hearing  that  it  was  our  intention  to  winter  in  the  touth.  the 
Iff!  ■.'!!'-!! _",^°P!?  7^,  ^°^^d  not  be  tainted  there."     My 


./.  ^-_    .._  ..^wu^vi  „„fc  ij„  uuui«u  mere.       jwLv 

vHo,  Bupposmg  ho  alluded  Ui  the  yellow  fever,  said,  »  We  AaU 


¥'\i 


•Ml  ii.«- 


I 


.  ,  !*«^     I 


i.*^-',  jj.'  -r»v<e!*"»'ii(S"'''i-'«t'T'-  i's 


•S  J,  i      . 


'*-,. 


mi 


■         '  ■      COLORED  ABOLITIONISTS.  fOaAP.  VII 

be  there  in  lie  cool  8ea«.n."  He  replied, -IwMthinkWof  the 
moral  atmo.5,here  of  the  K.uthem.tate.."  Hi.  pronunctatL  «»d 
expresMon  were  so  entirely  tho«  o£a  wcU^uoated  white  man  that 

W  AaZ"^.'- ""»;  *^f '■"»;y  ^^him  andhiscompani^ 
tearnt  that  the  elder,  who  was  very  black,  bnt  not  quite  a  foil  neero 

WromDdaware.  andhadbeeneducated  at  an  "Ibolition  coU^! 
mOhio_  The  younger,  who  was  still  darker,  had  been  a  slave  in 
Kentucky,  and  had  mn  away. .    They  were  traveUng  to  ZIZ 

funds  for  a  school  for  runaway  neeroes,  near  Detroit,  and  expressed 
S  '^Jl*'"'""  •'"'t  at  Sale.*S>ey  had  found  "  tke  colo^TZ 
*hjte  chddren  aU  taught  together  in  the  same  school,  this  "  t 
being  tiie  case  in  Boston."  I  told  them  that  I  had  j4t  In  ^ 
white  landholder  fiom  Barbados,  who  had  assuj  meTat 
«nancipa„on  had  answered  weU  in  that  island ;  Z^t^«  wL 
a  colored  man  in  the  legisUture,  another  in  the  iecutive Tun^ 

^Z^l  f  r  '^'"^'r  "^  *"  '••»''''»•  The  DelawariaS 
remarked  that  this  was  cheering  hews,  because  the  recent  l^ 
success  of  his  n«e  in  Hayti  had  been  used  as  an  JmX, 

t  ""^ruT"  ?r'  ^'  -*•-•  oapacityT:^:-',^! 

non.  He  then  descanted  on  the  relative  hberalitv  of  feelii...  bu 
ward  colored  ™en  in  the  various  free  states,  and  ^  vS^vet 

OK-  kTIu"^™' ""*  °'^<'-  I  «P««ed  surprise  in  ri^to 
Ohio;  but  the  Kentuchian  aflirmed  that  the  law  there  aSn^ 
red  equahty  of  protection  to  the  black  man,  a,  he  could  nS 

rf  !T;  \  ^  '"°°  *  ""^«-  *>«  '^'  l»««'y  I^tween  a  man 
It  \  If  .  '  •"'"**  "  ^"y*""-  "«»•  »»  the  white  being  Lm 
the  mob  had  r«^  .„d  pulled  down  the  houses  of  aU  ITht 
black  people.  He  went  on  narrating  stories  of  plante™  sho^t^ 
tteir  slaves,  and  other  tale,  of  Kentucky,  the  a^uracrof  whth 
my  subsequent  vu»t  t„  *hat  state  gave  me  good  reason  to  q„«tio„ 
But  I  could  not  help  being  amused  with  the  patriotis,^  of  thU 
man  ,  for,  however  unenviable  he  may  have  found  his  condition  • 

.'•■mai^^iha:'"";""! "  ^""*''  ^»°*"*«"'  -<•  -^y  t^ 

.     "     ?^  X   **  "  ''^™»*''  «»1'  "d  every  other  quaUty,  that  state 
was  mmiksurably  superior  t.  the  rest  of  the  Unio^'  Z^ 


1  "^E^"^ 


A- 


Ohap.  VU.] 


WHITE  AND  NEGRO  RACES. 


J! 


105 


to  Ohio,  emancipation  alone  being  wanting  to  demonstrate^  thig 
&ot  to  the  world.  .^  .  ,^,   .^  .,i  ■  j-- 

^   This  adventure  confirm^me  in  tiwiopiiaon  I  ha^ 
formed  that  if  the  colored  nin  had  fair  play,  and  were  carefully 
educated,  they  might  soon  be  safely  mtrusted  with  equaUty  of 
civd  and  political  rights.     Whatever  may  be  their  present  infe- 
nonty  as  a  race,  some  of  them  have  already  shown  superior 
abUities  to  a  great  many  of  the  dominant  whites.     Whether  in 
the  course  of  many  generations,  after  the  intense  prejiidices  'in- 
dulged against  them  have  abated;  they  would  come  up  to  th« 
mteUectual  standard  of  Europeans,  is  a  question  which  time 
alone  can  decide.     It  has  been  affirmed  by  some  anatomists  that 
the  bram  of  an  aduU  negro  resembles  that  of  a  whito  child;  and 
riedemann,  jud^ng  by  the  capacity  of  the  cranium,  found  the 
brains  of  some  of  our  unciviUzed  British  ancestors  not  more  de- 
veloped than  the  average  sized  negro's  brain.     He  says,  "  there 
IS  undoubtedly  a  very  close  connection  between  the  absolute  size 
of  the^  bifam,  and  the  inteUectual  powers  and  functions  of  the 
mmd        After  a  long  series  of  obseirvations  and  measurements 
he  refutes  the  idea  that  the  brain  of  a  negro  has  more  resem- 
blance to  that  of  the  erang-outang  than  the  European  brain  *      - 

Mr.  Owen,  having  soine  years  ago  made  a  post-mortem  exam- 
ination at  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital  of  the  brain  of  an  adult 
Insh  laborer,  found  that  it  did  not  weigh  more  than  the  average 
bram  of  a  youth  from  the  educated  classes  of  the  age  of  fourteen  • 
and  he  tells  me,  in  a  letter  on  tH^ubject,  that  he  is  not  aware 
"Of  any  modification  of  form  Ciize  in , the  negro's  brain  that 
woidd  support  an  inference  that  the  Ethiopian  race  would  not 
profit  by  the  same  influences  favoring  mental  and  moral  im- 
provement, which  have  tended  to  elevate  the  primitively  barbar- 
ous  white  races  of  men."  ,  /  »* 

The  separation  of  the  colored  children  in  the  Boston  schools, 
before  aUuded  to,  arose,  as  I  afterward  learned,  not  from  an  in- 
dulgence m  anti-negro  feelings,  but  bedause  they  find  they  can 
m  this  way  bring  on  both  races  faster.  Up  to  the  age  of  four- 
teen  the  black  chUdren  advance  as  fast  as  the  whites :  but  aft^r 
*  Phil.  Trang.  London,  1836,  p.  497. 


•^■1 

n 


.:4i4- 


^^jrfksSKs^\i^^-z^\.  f 


'■••IV' 


•  i 


IM 


'^^#l^^?w?p^?]^i'^.*, ''^'*f7,-«!s-'|'''\;  ■ 


HALF  BREEDS: 


*F5^t 


r- 


'•;;■';>•*'■'  *l 


-OX 


tc^i»;viirl: 


that  age,  unless  there  be  an  admixture  of  white  Wood,  it  becomes 
in  most  instances  extremely^ifficult  to  carry  them  forward.^ 
That  the  half  breeds  shouTd  l)e  intermediate  between  the  two 
parent  stocks,  and* that  the  colored  race  should  therefore  gain  in 
mental  capacity  in  proportion  as  it  approximates  in  physifcal 
oigamzation  to  the  whites,  seems- natural ;  and  yet  it  is  a  won- 
,derlul  fact,  psydhologically  considered,  that  we  should  4  ablet  to 
trace  the  phenomena  of  hybridity  even  into  the  world  of  intelleot 
And  reason.      '    ''  .X  *  " 


A 


\ 


^ 


'  \  - 


/ 


•"<'i;^& 


*K  f'Jf^'i' 


»v> 


■I  I 


'  W: 


T  . 


;;  4  'm>  i 


:&:».'  -fi* 


"*$^^- 


.^ 


Y 


^ 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Pttrtended  YodU  S«L  Serpeitt,  or  Zeugfodon,  from  Alabama -R«««i 
Ap^araBce  of  a  Sea  Se^at  ^  G.l?r^t\2:^^^^^ 
l845.-Near,Cape  Ann,  Ma«acKusetts,  I817.-American  DeSSn^  ' 
,     -Conjecture  as  to  l^ature  of  the  Animal.-Sea  Snake  VtiaXCS  " 

SL^  SSfTT^i,^,'^?'  °^  ""^«^  1808.^Rea8oS  for ^ 
S^QXetleTr^tr^  ""  '^^  r  '^  ^-«  S»-k-Ca|>t 

DuEiNG  thefir^  part  bjiiny  stay  in  Boston,  OctoB^1845. 
we  one  day  saw  the  walls  in  the  principal  streets  covert  with 
.  placaVds    m  which  the  words  sea  serpens  alive  figured  con- 
^cuously.     On  aRpioachihg  near  enough  to  read  the  smaU^r   « 
type  of  this  adverti^ment,  I  found  that  Mr.  Koch  was  ahout  to- 
exhibit  to  the  Bostonians  the^fossQ  skeleton  of  "  that  colossal  aid'"' 
terrible  reptile  the  sea  ^jpenZ,  whidt,  when,  alive,  measured 
t^  feet^rn  circumference."     The  puBlic  were  alsa  informed 
^at  thia:%drwcho«r,  or  water  king.Jwas  the  leviathan  oPthe  . 
Book  of  Job  cjiapter  xli.     I  shall  i^ve*  occasion  in  the  sequel.    ■ 
when  ^nbing  my  expe^tion  in  Alabama  to  the .  exact  site  - 

Irom  whence  ^hesefo|«a  regains  were- disinterred  by  Mr.  Koch    ' 
of  showmg  that  they  \belong  to  the  zeugledo^,  first  m^de  W  by 
Mr.  Owen  to  be  an  extinct  cetacean  of.  truly  vast  dimensions^ 
«id  which  I  wper^jned  to  be  referable  geologicaUy  to  the  ' 
Jiiocene  period.       >  - 

In  the  opinion  of  thp  best  comparative  anntomists,  there  Is  no  ' 
reason  to  beheve  that  this  fossQ  ^hale  bore  any'iesemblan^  in 
form,  when  ahve,  to  a  snajte,  although  Ue  bones  of  the  vertebi-al 
column  havmg  been  made  to  form  a  continuous  scries,  more  than 
JOO  feet  in  length,  by  the  union  of  vertebne  derived  from  more  - 
than  one  mdividuaj,  were  ingeniously  arranged  by  Mr.  Koch  in 
ft  serpenUne  form,  so  ai,  to  convey  the  impiessiod  tha^  motion 
Wa^produced  l^  v6rticja  flexures  of  the  body.  __ 

**^^  veiJr^pr^ET  h*4  9v^  dft^^to  give  an  wsww  tb 


"C-^ 


# 


v% 


:.s. 


4*--.„.»      1-.,   • 


<K^^jLii^<Jf^  . 


.'A 


.■*i 


'tK' 


-108 


SEA  SERPENT  IN  GULF  OF  ST.  LAWRENCE.  [Ohap.VIU. 


f  IM 
1  ' 
I  »     I 


..*5hl'; 


tijb  question  whether  I  really  believed  the  great  fossil  skeletoa 
from  Alabama  to  be  that  of  the  sea  serpent  formerly  seen  on  tiwL^^"^^ 
cdast  near  Boston,  I  received  news  of  the  reappearance  of  the        * 

same  serpent,  in  a  letter  from  myOfiriend  Mr.  J.  W.  Dawsoti.  of 
Pictou,  in  Nova  Scotia.     This  geologist,  wHh  whom  I  explored 
Nova  Scotia  in  1842,  said  he  was  coUecting  evidence  for  me  of 
the  appearance,  in  the  month  of  August,  1845,  at  Merigomish. 
m  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  of  a  marine  monster,  about  100 
feet  long,  seen  by  two  intelligent  observers',  nearly  agroiind  in 
calm  wat^r,  Within  200  feet  of  the  beach,  where  it  remained  in 
Bight  about  hatf  an  hour,  and  then  got  off  with  difficulty.     One      ' 
of  the  witnesses  went  up  a  bank  in  ordir  to  look  down  upon  it. 
They  said  it- sometimes  raised  its  head  (which  resembled  that  of 
a  seal)  partially  out  6f  the  water.     Along  its  back  were  a  num- 
ber  of  humps  or  plrotuberances,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  ob- 
server oft  the  beach,  were  true  humpp,  "While  the  other  thought 
they  were  produced  by  vertical  flexures  of  the  body.     Between     ' 
the  head  and  the  first  protuberance  there  was  a  straight  part  of    s 
the  back  of  considerable  length,   and  this  part  was  generally 
above  water.     The  color  appeared  black,  and  the  skin  had  a 
rough  appearance.     The  animal  was   seen   to    bend   its  body 
almost  into  d.  circle,  and  again  to  unbend  it  with  rapidity      It 
was  slender  in  proportion  to  itUength.     After  it  had  disappeared 
m  deep  water,  its  wake  was  visible  for  some  time.     There  were 
^no  indications  of  paddles  seen.     Some  other  persons  who  saw  it 
compared«the  creature  to  a  long  string  of  fishing-net   buoys 
movmg  rapidly  about.     In  the  course  of  the  summer,  the  fisher-  ' 

men  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Prince  Edward's  Island,  in  the  Gulf 
ot  St  Lawrence,  had  been  terrified  by  this  sea  monster,  and  the 
^ar  before,  October,  1844.  a  simUar  creature  swam  rtlowly  past 
the  pier  at  Arisaig,  near  the  east  end  of  Nova  Saotii,  Wd.  there 
being  only  a  slight  bmeze  at  the  time,  was  attentively  observed 
by  Mr.  Barrj,  a  mig^ight  of  Pictou,  who  told  Mr.  Bawwn  he 
WM  within  120  feet  of  it,  and  estimated  iU  length  at  sixty  feet 
and  the  thickness  of  its  Ubdy  at  thr«e  feet.  It  had  humps  on 
the  bacli:,  which  seemed  too  smaU  and  close  together  to  be,bend. 
-w  tn»  boqy,  ■  °  ~ 


0«>:  Vm.]  NQgWEOIAW  SEA  gBBPBtO!.  ,0, 

^  r.7     iV  r^"  ''""P"-     ^»  O"-"?"*!"!*  of  thi.  ™>tioa 


■5    »■* 


'  ■  ■  ••rpent  acen  at  AiImIc,  Nova  Beoiia,  Oct  1844. 

The  head,  a,  was  rounded  and  obttiM  ,'»  f,««*      j 

PO-tttoU.  ,pp«.ring  like  half  rf  a  mX^V^i      t^'  '^  *" 
the  parfM«n  mu  black.  "naokeK^ .  taU.     Tie  color  of 

.'""'?•  wegwted  By  Mr.  Daiwon  that  a  .well  in  A.  ^ 

«f  «te,  when  th^  i.  a  ripr^l^hT  *""  "  **''"'*^ 
But  Mr.  Barry  reidi«l  thTrh.T^       j  T  *"  '""™"  """'"o" 

d«ru.«  the  und„utio„'we»  ^oi'tii':?:::'^':^/-^  ~'^- 

month,  after  I  left  B«t«n   a  letiT  ?  T""* '  *"'  **» 

-at  «.e  „„.a  of  the'r:k:it;«"  da3  Fetuty'-'Z" 

•Bd  Ch.rle._bX  XuTTLi  y^""-  ^f**""  '^"P*"  Homy 

!«..«.  S^Nor^y^Xb.li'he^lrS^rp"^  T'"  °"'- 
animal,  of  .<»  rare  and  wnirular  kind"  JL'T  i  J  *  """"'"' 
«thm,  the  .Tid««^  bein^TSr^*^^'  .r?  ^V  firiiornien  .n,l 


oth.,.,  the  ,ni^  h^UM,  iX^dZ'jJ";*  "^  '•'°^""  """ 


sk'^-J 


i^ly^wt  > 


I 


'.,  ^ 


110 


NORWBGIAN  SBA  SERPENT. 


(Ghap.  VIII. 


dared  that  they  can  now  no  longer  doubt  that  there  livei-  in 
their  seas  some  monster,  which  has  given  rise  to  the  tales  pub- 
lished by  Bontopiddan,  Bishop  of  Bei^en,  in  his  Natural  History 
^of  Norway  (1752),  who  gave  an  engraving,  which  the  living  wit- 
nesses declare  to  be  very  like  what  they  saw. 


Pontoppidan'i  llgiue  of  tha  Norwegian  M»  urpent,  published  1798. 

These  appearances  were  witnesi^ed  in  1845,  near  Christian- 
land,  and  at  Molde,  and  in  the  parish  of  Sund,  the^animal  enters 
ing  fiords  in  hot  weather,  when  the  sea  was  caln^  The  length 
of  the  creature  was  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  feet ;  color  dark, 
.  body  smooth,  and  in  thickness,  like  that  of  a  stout  man  ;  swim- 
ming swiftly  with  serpentine  movement,  both  horizontally  and 
up  and  down,  raising  its  blunted  head  occasionally  above  the 
water  ;  its  eyes  bright,  but  these  not  perceived  by  some  witnesses  ; 
its  undulating  course  like  that  of  an  eel ;  its  body  lay  on  the  sea 
like  a  number  of  « large  kegs,"  the  water  much  agitated  by  its 
rapid  movements,  and  the  waves  broke  on  the  shore  as  when  a 
steam-boat  is  passing.  From  the  back  of  the  head  a  mane  like 
that  of  a  horse  commenced,  which  waved  backward  and  forward 
in  the  water.  Archdeacon  Deinboll  says,  that  «  the  eye-witnesses, 
whose  testimony  he  collected,  were  not  so  seized  with  fear  as  to 
impair  their  powers  of  observation ;  and  one  of  them,  when 
within  musket  shot,  had  fijfed  at  the  monster,  and  is  certain  the 
shots  hit  him  in  the  hea^  after  whiolL.he  dived,  but  came  up 
again  immediately." 

In  reading  over  these  recent  statements,  dirawn  up  by  observers 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  it  is  impossible  not  to  be  struok 
with  their  numerous  points  of  agreement,  both  with  each  other 
and  with  those  recorded  by  the  New  Englanders  between  the 
years  1816^  and  1825,  when  the  sea  serpgit  repeatedly  visited^ 


the  ooMt  of  N<nrth  Amwioa.     There'  it  evwi  a  ooinoidenoe  in 


I'-qr^i 


CmAt.  VIII.] 


's^m^^i 


r, 


AMEKtAN  DESCRIPTIONS. 


111 

m«t  of  the  oontradiotion.  of  "thcwe  who  have  attempted  to  de«rfl>e 

w^  on  the  Ao«  and  who  could  take  .  leisurely  s^ey  of  it 
without  theu.  .magmation.  beiug  disturbed  by  apLhenln,  of 
pe«,nal  danger.  On  the  other  ha^d.  the  coLomatir Tt^e 
fishennen  in  Norway,  the  HebridA,  and  Ameriea.  who  have 

Ztl^i^t"  "^''l'  '""•■•  *"'  *• "» »titf;i^"kr 

queetion—I,  ,t  poMible  they  can  have  seen  nothing  more  than 

■  W„lm.r^*A'  '*""*''"'  '"  """^  ^  "•«  appearance  of  a  huge 
ammal,  m  August.  1817.  and  for  several  .u^ve  years  in  t£ 
harbor  of  Gloucester.  Ma,««,husett..  near  Cape  aI.  tlaT  he 

evidence  on  the  subject.     I  am  weU  acquainted  with  two  TZ 
Aroe  gentlema,,  Dr.  Bigelow  and  Mr.  F.  C.  Gray,  who^rew  uS 

nesses  who  saw  the  creature  on  shore  or  at  sea,  some  of  them 
from  a  duitance  of  only  ten  yards.     ■•  The  moni^""  &'    s^^ 

^ut  two  feet  above  water  ;  of  a  dark  brown  color ;  L  body 

^ont2  r  T"  »'"'"'»"»«'■  """pared  by  some  to  U. 
gaUon  k^.  by  other,  to  a  string  of  buoys,  and  caUed  by  wvenJ 

thow  of  a  whale  swimmmg  a  mile  in  throe  minutes,  and  some- 

fiTat^'ti:^:'..*  t  st^Ltd.  "fe-^""!'""'^ ""' -^  *•  --• 

of  the  sea  in  calm  and  bright  weat 

at  him  from  a  boat,  and   havinir  f 

»u.t  have  hit  him  :>.t^^fi^:.Z'tnZi  :^^^ 

rortid^""  ""  •-"•  "^  '-^"'^  •  hund,:^™!'?. 

^bW  Itc^XXL  t.^  ^"  C«n^t;»,  a!!^ 
me  moreauioua  to  turn  tfakwhole  matter  into  ridicule. 


le  only  came  to  the  surface 
Br.  A  skillful  gunner  fired 
ken  good  aim.  felt  sure  he 


N>       ■■•:''     '/ 

r  '  ■ 

AflBR^CAN  DESCRIPTIONS.  [Chap,  VIH. 


It  happened  that  a  common  New  England  species  of  land  snake 

{Coluber  cmstrictor),  full  grown,  and  about  three  feet  long,  which 

.must  have  been  swept  out  to  sea,  was  cast  ashore,  and  brought 

to  the  committee.     It  had  a  series  of  humps  ^n  its  back,  caused 

by^the  individual  happening  to  have  a  diseased  spine a  fact 

which  can  no  longer  be  disputed,  for  I  have  seen  the  identical 
specimen,  which  is  still  preserved  in  spirits  in  the  Museum  of 
New  Haven.  As  many  of  the  deponents  declared  liiiis  snake  to 
be  an  exact  miniature  of  the  great  monster,  the  Committee  con- 
cluded that  it  might  be  its  young,  and,  giving  a  figure  of  it, 
conferred  upon  it  the  high-sounding  appellation  of  Scdiophys 
AUanticus,  the  generic  name  being  derived  from  the  jGreek 
OKoXibg,  scolios,  flexible,  and  60tc,  ophis,  snake. 

In  addition  to  these  published  statements.  Colonel  Perkins,  of 
Boston,  had  the  kindness  to  lay  before  me  his  not«s,  made  in 
July,  1 8  i  7,  when  he  saw  the  animal.     He  counted  fourteen  pro- 
jections, six  feet  apart,  on  the  back,  which  he  imagined  to  be 
vertical  flexures  6f  the  body  when  in  motion ;  but  he  also  saw 
the  body  bent  horizdhtally  into  the  figure  of  the  letter  S.     It 
was  of  a  choeolate  biWi 'color,  the  head  flat,  and  about  a  foot 
across.     A  friend  of  his  took  a  pencil  sketch  of  it,  which  was 
found  tQ  resemble  Pontoppidan's  figure.*     Respecting  the  length, 
Mr.  Mansfield,  a  friend  of  the  Colonel,  was  driving  a  one-horse 
vehicle  on  a  road  skirting  Gloucester  Bay,  along  the  edge  of  a 
chff,  fifty  or  sixty  feet  in  perpendicular  height,  when  he  saw  the 
sea-serpent  at  the  base  of  the  clifli'  on  the  white  beach,  where 
there  was  not  more  than  six  or  seven  feet  water,  and,  giving  the 
reins  to  his  wife,  looked  down  upon  the  creature,  and  made  up 
his  mind  that  it  was  ninety  feet  long.     He  then  took  his  wife  to 
the  spot,  and  asked  her  to  guess  its  length,  and  she  said  it  was 
as  long  as  the  wharf  behind  their  house,  and  this  measured  about 
100  feet.     While  they  were  looking  down  on  it,She  creature 
appeared  to  be  alarmed,  and  started  off",     I  asked  another  Bos- 
tonian,  Mr.  Cabot,  who  saw  the  monster  in  1818,  whether  it 
might  not  have  been  a  shoal  of  porpoises  followirg  each  other  in 
a  line,  >t  the  distance  of  one  or  two  yards,  imd  tumbl 


•  See  "SiUiinan's  Journal,"  vol.  U.  p.  15«. 


?/£'5I'*vM**?,  *"*»-#'''3'W'**,.'*^''t^^^P^'WV^''^^'ft?YW9:?2i'*?^ 


Ch^.VIIL]  AMBBIOAN  OB80BIPTI0NS. 


^; 


itr' 


tL?«r  .K     '^     ?"*  of  gating  barrelB  in  motion.      He  said 
one  of  thirty  persons  who  ran  alo*%  the  beach  at  Nahant  new 

^\7^v: "'  "r r  "^  ^"^°^^  -^  near  ti"  Lhr 

They  were  all  convinced  that  it  was  one  animal,  and  they  saw 
It  raise  its  head  out  of  the  water      TTa  uAa^a  *u-1  Ii^        ^  ■ 
fhnt  ♦.rr,^  ♦  warer.     ue  added  that  there  were  at 

that  time  two  sea  serpents  fishing  in  the  Bay  Ut  once 

ha^T^  "'^''^  American  narratives  of  this  phenomenon  which 
have  been  communicated  to  me.  I  shall  select  one  given  me  W 
my  friend  Mr.  WiUiam  M^lvaine  of  Philadelphia  Wau^  ^^ 
seems  to  attest  the  fact  of  the  creature  having  w^deiTrfar 
«>uth  as  Cape  Hatteras.  in  North  CarolLa.ir3l"'1ap^^^^ 
west  Indies,  on  the  inner  edge  of  the  gulf  stream,  in  a  deenlv 

g^^si^^^^^^^^      ^Z  '"'^^'  ^^'  *^«  '^^  ^'^'' 
gers  awe-struck  by  the  sudden  ^ppari^on  of  a  creature  havinir  a 

cylindrical  body  of  great  length,  and  which  lifted  up  i^faS 
eight  feet  above  the  wafer.  After  gazing  at  them  for  Jer^ 
Hg-^t^r^reated.  maici^  large  Ldftions  ZLZT' 
The  story  had  been  so  much  discredited  that  the  captain  would 
o^y  relate  it  to  intimate  friends.  ^ 

V^^  ^'*'  ^?^^'  '"""'y  marvelous  tale  was  called  in  the 
United  States  a  snake  story ;  and  when  Colonel  Perkins  went  to 
Washington  twenty  years  ago.  and  was  asked  if  heTaTtre^ 

ne  was  one  of  tiie  unfortunate  individuals  who  saw  it  himself  I 
confess  that  when  I  left  America  in  1846.  I  was  in  a  stiU  morf 
unfortunate  predicament,  for  I  beUeved  in  illTe^J^^^^  ^Z 

tob^To:?  rabid  f '  '^'^^  '  ''''  ^"^^"^  ^^«  noZr^^t 
to  be  now  inhabited  by  a  gigantic  ophidian,  for  thi»  hvpothesis 

fh^tlrt^  "'""'.'*  ™«-/»^«hi«hertdegr;imprlbrslern^ 
that  m  the  present  state  of  the  globe,  there  is  no  great  deveW 
ment  of  reptile  life  in  temperate  or  pokr  regions  w^efherT  tK " 
northern  or.southern  hemisphere,     ^hen  wf:r^r tgM^^^^^^^^^ 
such  as  those  in  which  the  creatu™  n«iu^  -  iaiuuaes, 

frequently  o<.ur..  we  fbd^Z'*."?  '^"^Am^rlrl 

itog.  «d  new...  „  ^  :zp"^^x^z,::^  ^ 


,jil££^'A.*^jLjmSSi.fcf^.-;^li.  ,.^^ 


^• 


^  ""VT    e   V-5\<).'ic>  ^*pT  ^ 


•^  ^^v^'.JSS!?'^ 


'•? 


r" 


114 


SBA  MONSTER  AT  STR0N8A. 


CCHAf .  vni. 


representatives  orthe  hydrophi,  or  true  wate^«nake,  nor  of  to«, 
toises,  nor  of  the  batrachian  or  lizard  tribes  '         ^ 

Jl!.!^^  TTV''  *?'  ^^^^"'^  P^^«'  immediately  ante- 
cedent  to  that  M^hen  the  present  molluscous  fauna  came  into 
existence,  there  was  a  similar  absence  of  lai^e  reptiles,  although 
ther«  were  then,  as  now.  in  colder  latitudeTmany  hu^  Wkf 
sea Wwals.  and  whales.  If.  however,  tke  creLuTol^rveS 
m  North  America  and  Norway,  should  really  pi-ove  to  be  some 

vel^^Z.T''  "^  "^y  '"''  ''  *^^  last-mentioned  families  of 
vertebrata.  I  see  no  impropriety  in  its  retaining  the  Endish 
name  of  sea  serpent,  just  as  one  of  the  seals  is  now  called  a  sea 
elephant  and  a  small  fish  of  the  Mediterranean,  a  sea  hor^ 
while  other  marine  animals  are  named  sea  mic;  and  uSs' 
although  they  have  only  a  fanciful  resemblance  to  hedged  «; 

Br^rZTf^J^^^"  "^"^  '^"*'  '^''  ^«"  «^  undescribed 
species,  sbme  of  ite  bones  must,  ere  this,  have  been  washed  ashere  • 

^l  L\Tt«  f Tk'''"  "'r  "  y^* "  ^"  -'^-^-^^  -th7u 

weight  T.K  ^'  1r^  •"  *"  '''''^'  ^»^  »tt«^h  much 

^eight  to  this  argument  from  negative  evidence;  and  I  learn 

from  good  zoologists  that  there  are  whales  «p  rar;  as  nevfr^ 

have  beej  seen  smce  Sibbald  described  them  in  the  middle  of 

the  se^eenth  century.     There  is  also  a  great  cetaceTn  about 

thirty  feei  long  caUed  Delphinarhyncus  f!D^tZ!72^l 

only  three  specimens  have  ever  been  met  ^  Tne  of  thet 

was  thrown  ashore  forty  years  ago  on  the  coastlf  Scotll.  aid 

the  other  two  stranded  on  the  shores  of  Belgium  Ld  Franc^  ^d 

^Identified  with  the  British  species  by  Dr.  MelvillT 

Stl-  f  r***"'  ^'''^T^'  ^^'""^  ""^^  ™y  ~*"™  4^  the  United 
States.  I  have  been  led  to  entertain  respecting  thl  distinct  and 

IStrthlfr'^T  ''  ""^  "^  -'pent,  «ise  from  a  string  sus 
pmonthat  it  is  a  known  species  of  sea  animal  wLh  has  actu- 
ally  been  cast  asho^,  in  the  Orkneys.  aiTd  that  som)  of  i"^,^^ 
are  now  preserved  in. our  museums,  showing  it  to  be  of  the 

iTht"l^"^I;  "^'  "'  '''^''''  *^  ^""^  ''  '''  --logics  whl 
It  has  perplexed,  nor  to  many  of  the  soaftring  people  whom  U 

has  frightened.     In  the  summer  of  the  ye.r  1  m!!Z  mZ^l 


■!,. .  V  . 


Oiio.nn.]  MA  MONSTER  AT  STRONSA. 


ir^iif,i-StZf  lyrmnfii^tKilfiTf^''- 


115 


-f 


swept  m  by  another  storm,  and  stranded  on  the  beach   -il^liT 

NeiU  w«  1^"^^.!        ^«"«'"»"  .Society,  of  which  Mr. 

long  taU  curving  several  times  verticals  l^uT  six  legs  and  a 
U  .reached  the  ^t  tec  uC^::Z  Z^^Zjt^T^, 
«  remained  entire,  and  the  outline,  «CI.:^VCb«„ 

K.:n5i:nt  tiff  f --"^ 

va^.^eewh.^hX™;i"t«  *''tf.''  "-W  '»  «>«  t«l:  a 
tinuity  of  the  Z[  S^^^'Z  th^le  LrT  1"  ""^^  T 

^.  !!T.L  *^!  Norwegian.,  that  M.,ivr„;i.  hir^^r^mi,!^ 
"Wupterth.Wen«k;soei.ty  hi.  de^ripCT^^^ 


'3£:.4<.Ma4lli/.^.'4^Ji&v     i*1^ 


/ 

/   ! 


/ 


'  ...'■ 


.VTf 


.1         -  .. 


■^^f-TTISp^TTji^ 


/^ 


SIR  BVEEAED  HOME'S  OPINION.         [Ohaf.  VI 


/ 


^er«it  accounts  communicated  to  him,  caUed  it  Hahydrus  Ponr' 

/   Parts  of  the  cranium,  scapular  arch,  fin,  and  vertebral  cjumn 
ij^re  sent  to  Dr.  Barclay  of  Edinburgh,  who  had  at  thj  time 
the  fanest  museum  of  comparative  anatomy  north  of  the  tweed 
and  he  conceived  them  to  belong  to  a  new  and  entirely  uhknown 
monster.  *^  7 

,     .    If  the  imagination  of  good  zoologists  could  be'so  prLcupied 

//     M  to  cause  them  at  once  to  jump  to  the  conclusionj  that  the 

/       Stronsa  ammal  and  the  Norwegian  sea  serpent  were  oi  and  the 

^      same,  we  can  not  be  surprised  that  the  public  in  geneil  placed 

.       the  most  miphct  faith  in  .that  idea.     That  they  did  so.  Is  proved 

by  a  passage  recently  pubUshed  in  Beattie's  Life  of  Ckmpbell 

wh^rejhe  poet  writes  thus,  in  a  letter  dated  Februa^  Isth,' 

"Of  real  life  let  me  see  what  I  have  heard  for  the  liist  fort- 
night :  first,  a  snak^my  friend  Telford  received  a  drawing  of  it 
—has  been  found  thrown  on  the  Orkney  Isles ;  a  sea  snaie  with 
a  mane  like  a  horse,  four  feet  thick,  and  fifty-five  feet  long.     This 

18  seriously  true.     Malcohn  Laing,  the  historian,  saw  it  and  sent 
a  drawing  of  it  to  my  friend."*  > 

Now  here  we  see  the  great  inaccuracy  of  what  may  be  stvled 
contemporaneous  testimony  of  a  highly  educated  man.  who  had 
no  motive  or  disposition  to  misrepresent  facts.  From  the  Wer- 
nenan  Transactions  and  Mr.  Neill's  letter,  I  learn  distinctly  that 
Malcolm  Laing  never  went  to  the  shore  of  Stronsa  to  see  the 
monster. 

Fortunately  several  of  the  vertebriB  were  forwarded,  in  1809 
to  Sir  Everard  Home,  in  London,  who  at  once  pronounced  them 
to  belong  to  the  SgudOus  fnaximus,  or  common  basking  shark 
figures  of  other  portions  sent  to  Edinburgh  to  Dr.  Barclay,  were 
also  published  by  hmi  in  the  Wernerian  Transactions,  and  agree 
very  wdl  with  Home's  decision,  although  it  is  clear,  from  Bar- 
Clay  s  Memoir,  that  he  was  very  angry  with  the  English  anat- 
omist for  setting  him  right,  and  declaring  it  to  be  a  shark  It 
was  mdeed  very  difficult  to  believe  on  any  but  the  most'  con- 
*  Campboiri  T.ifa,  yol.  U.  p.  igg^  ^q^ 


%> 


V 


$^^^^2!^2__     ^^SB'PBNT  OF  HEBBIDBg.  \„ 

.  in  the  CoUege  of  SureeoM  wlZV? '  *'  vertebne  are  stiU 
and  «,  identical  wrZ^*^l^  ^"T"  *''*™-  '"'**  »««'. 
Owen  i.  „„wim  to  kn^ne^S^  ^T  "^'"'«'  *»""  Mr. 
oie,  of  the  same  ^„,     ^      *"''  ""»  '«'''■«  *«  "y  other  .pe- 

no  ™:an!tL?„rii"th?<^:;n*''>'"^  »'«''''  "  "^ 

when  he  was  Se«     I?  v         "  S*«"»»««  Har^K.r^n  1804, 
»P«ke  in  ms   that'the  S  I  """  "^^  ^^  "^  '''^  ^^om  he 
of  the  Wert  ho^toar  l^T'".'^'""'  ™'  *'"'''«  «"''«'«th 
Unfortunater^"  eZ'^'^l^  '"«'■<'''  **"«•  «  OrkneT 

monster  before  t'w«r.tt^         ?"  u"''!*'  """*  "«"'«»»  of  the 
of  Small  lalee  ia  1"h^m^      ''    "*  *'  ^^-  ^■"^''  Maclean; 
ment  of  what  he^uirj'''fT  "'"''*'^  *°  *»"  "P  »  «*»«'^ 
alarmed  the  fishtrZ  t  tt  .         '^I.*^  "'"'*  '"^  "  much 
he  penned  hi.  to™  wWch  w™"^!'"^  *""  ""«  y«"-     B^f- 
clay's  Memoir  m  1809  •  he^^T  .    ^  '"  "''P'""'"  «»  »"• 
«.ns  who  were  under  L  fi^l  ~     ^^  ^  """'''""^  ^V  P*'" 
and  the  Stronsa    ™„*  ^f^Pirri  ^'^  *'»''"'  '"«'««•. 
«.T««t.     MaeleaaTforiJt  tft  i,     '"*J''"'*»PPi<'»»'«  «ea 
June.  1808,  when  tZZe  c^e^*  "jr"  ''^'  *f  ■"»»*  "' 
at  a  distance  like  a  BmTZTtV    '"°"'°'''  '''•'°''  l^ked 

hoat,  and  he  saw  it  fiT  60^!  l.^"  '^'  T  "^  «»  "« 
land.  ""  *°  •"»«■  »nd  afterward  from-  the 

«n^er''^Itrovr2"n:d!";r''°"'''''«  "'^    its-neek  rather 

head  was  above^t™  ita  It     ""  "^  ""*  '*°™-     ''^^  *he 

elevated,  it  ap^^T;  Z7TZJ1^  "  ''"*  =  """»  "•"* 

ed  its  .'mo„;Crhead^  Xh    ?^,  '*^*  "''•''^      I'*™"'- 
toward  the  boat  and  the^  J     \  "•' "  '»»ti"»«l  «hove  water. 

.uit  of  thlm      After^:^!^   K^J^'^^y  "»*"  *»«0'  »  P-r^ 
-^^lithjJS;^^^  »V'  fiom  the  shore,';. it 


*  W«ii.,Tnuw.  vfA,  i.  P5444. 


water  for  abwrt^  ^nrfe^a^aiir 


w 


U-W\?' 


•Wif' 


>«.*,«-  ^  f^-;^  "V%!H 


t^f^'^^'VT'  '^^'v'-t-^  T,*-^ 


118 


-f-fe 


SBA  SEEPBNT  OP  HEBRipBS.  [Ohaf.  VIIL 


■ 


before  he  lost  aight  of  it.  It.  length  he  believed  to  be  from 
Boventy  to  eighty  feet."  "About  the  same  time  the  crews  of 
thirteen  fishmg  boats,  off  the  inland  of  Canna.  were  terrified  by 
th»  monster ;  and  the  crew  of  one  boat  saw  it  coming  toward 
them.  be»ween  Rum  and  Canna,  with  its  head  high  above 
water.  ' 

Mr.  Maclean  adds,  evidentiy  in  answer  to  a  question  put  bv 

his  correspondent,  thtft  he  saw  nothing  of  the  mane ;  and  adds. 

when  nearest  to  me  it  did  not  raise  its  liead  wholly  above  water, 

w  that  the  neck  being  under  water,  I  could  perceive  no  shining 

filaments  thereon,  if  it  had  any."     And  heX  observes:,^ a 

had  no  fill  that  I  could  perceive,  and  seemed  to  me  to  move 

progressively  by  undulations  up  and  down."     Most  of  my  read- 

ers  are  probably  satisfied  by  this  time,  that  if  nothing  had  come 

down  to  us  but  oral  testimony,  or  even  published  accounts  with- 

out  figjires  respec^  the  creature  seen  in  the  Hebrides  in  1808, 

^  W«?i.        ^^^'^^^'^d  stranded  in  Orkney,  we  should  all.  of 

L  /  T  "*"?*  ^'^  '^  ^*^"™  ^^'^  ^^«  '^^d  the  same  mon- 
fiter,  and  no  other  than  the  sea  snakeof  Pontoppidan;  or  that  so 
oflen  seen  on  the  eastern  coast  of  North  America.     How  much 

fewTl"^  Z"""""  *"*'  *^'^  dispeUed  by  the  preservation  of  a 
tew  bones !  May  we  not  then  presume  that  other  sea  serpents 
were  also  sharks  ?  'If  so,  how  are  we  to  reconcile  record  J^p! 
pearances  with  this  hypothesis?     It  was-justly  remarked  by  Dr. 

l^uTor.  f '*"^  tT"^''  '"''  (P-  ^^^)'  '^'^^  Maclean's 
account  of  a  creature,  which  raised  its  head  above  the  water  and 

^  viewed  distant  objects,  was  opposed  to  the  idea  of  its  being  re^. 

ab  e  to  the  class  of  cartilaginous  fishes,  for  no  shark  liftsite  head 

out  of  the  sea  as  it  swims.     I  ihay  also  temark.  that  the  de- 

w^riptions  commonly  given,  both  by  the  Norwegians  and  North     ' 

Americans,  would  agree  better  with  the  appearance  of  a  large 

seal  with  a  mane,  chased  by  a  shoal  of  porpoises.than  with  a  shark. 

But  when  we  question  the  evidence  more  closely,  we  must 

make  great  allowance  for  the  incompetence  of  observers  whoUv 

^norant  of  zoology.     In  the  first  place,  we;  must  dimiiss  from 

our  mmds  the  image  of  a  shark  as  it  appears  ^en  out  of  the   ^ 

;.  *  Wern.  Trans.  Edinhnrgh,  vol.  i.  p.  444 


JE-. 


Tl^-^'l 


jK^Oi-"^ 


>HAP.  VIII 

>  be  from 
orewr  of 
riiiied  by 
y  toward 
[h  above 

a.  put  by 
ind  adds, 
re  water, 

>  shining 
es :  "  It 
to  move 
ay  read' 
ad  come 
its  with* 

a  1808,  ' 
daU.of 
ne  mon- 
that  so 
w  much 
ion  of  a 
serpents 
dod  ap- 
byDr. 
lolean's 
ter  and 
ig  refer- 
tiihead 
the  de- 
North    ^ 
a  large 
b  shark, 
e  must 
wholly 
m  firom 
of  the  ^ 


Chap.  VJIJ.] 


BASKING  8HABK. 


110 

water,  or  as  stuffed  in  a  muMiim      nZ       ~       ^^  ~ ^ 

the  outline  of  the  Sg^^^^I^T'^t  ^"  "P"*"^ 

•bove  water  .t  the  «^^t     ,^'i"^y  '»"'"'»  «« 
UcK  with  the  fi„t  S  fin  »  .'"™'?;  *•  PW-ni-noe  of  the 

*/  ^.Jthirfl^.theSfrrfrX!'"^""' «'■'"»•*»■ 


y 


Br.MelviJJe"?™"?^'^"^'-""--- 

Strait,  off  Austria -wT^j^  mJei  an  hour,  in  Torres 
which  are-lr±,ip^  Itinr  *""  ''*'f  *'™«»  °^  *e  taU, 
»  it.  advanced  aS  of  ™?^  Tf '.  *^  »""""«  ''^"riW 
leading  of  VMyl^'Tt'^^fT'  ""'  •?*«  -*-' 
■.ear  to  the  suriij  w^ftZa-    *    ?*•*  «>ifSl&«t  rising 
dorsal  fin  and  w^of '^h-^    i,  ''^"*  *'*"  »e»^'  "'^at  the 
condderable  hefft      Z^^f^J^  '""^T'^y  "M  «P  to  a 
Jhark  W.3  going  althe^Cf'^r^V""*  'f*  -«^  We 
by  wmeof  the  obwrver.  T.trJ!^%T,  "  """"•  "  "»<«d 
in  front  n4.te^^?.trrfH    ,*%**<''' ^"^''■^nred 

behindit  f7the  ZL    J^^  t  **  ''""^'  "«'  *«  d""*!  ^n 

Aree  projeoting>i:;;;  t*  c  fig^H  T^a""'-  "'"*'"'  t 
drawing,  sketched  from  mpmnU;  k  ;/'  J*  ^^'  ^*^®"  ^'^  the 
The  smaller  ^.XmZsZ7v1         ^""^  '^  ^^^^  S^*-' 

^  tween  the  three  Cr  mT/vl  t^^^^ 

^  wav^  rai^  ixi  the  wLrL  7 J  i        '^^rred  to  a  series  of 


bulky  a  l^y:     Indeed  ^nlnmr^r^^^'"^^^  Uiraugh^ it^  i,<^ 
"-"J-    laoeed,  some  of^e  drawmgs  ^hich  I  have  seen 


♦ 


-■^p  'T*  «^"„"m,i!^t"Jf 


UfCttP'' 


■t^f 


SN^KB  A  BASKING  SHARK.  [Chap.  VIII. 

^uT^  7  "'*••,•«?«>  PwftotI,  with  the  idea  of  the 
.   p*K,u«5  back  of  a  Aark  followed  by  a  .„«<««;„„  .f  ^ 
4inm«hu«  ,„  „«  arthey  recede  from  the  dorsal  promineno...  ^ 

fcrZ!  !^i  '**"*""'"«'■•«'  "  »!<»«  ™iWe  «boye  water  mm 
fonn  »  MtHi  ,  portion  of  the  whole  b«*T,  that  they  might  earilT 
convey  the  .„,t,o.  of  mirrowne«  a«  comparrti  to  ^at  lenTh-  * 
and  the  a«ert.on  of  a  few  witn^es  that  the  donil  proi«ti«„ 
were  pomted;  may  have  ari«n  from  Aeir  having  takenTmore 
«  nrate  look  at  the  d«pe  of  the  fin.,  and  diinguiahed  S 
better  from  the  mtervemng  waves  of  the  sea.  Bnt.  accorfing  to  ■ 
this  view,  the  large  eyes  seen  in  the  « bluni  head"  by  several 
observers,  must  have  been  imagiiiary.  unless  in  oases  where  Iw    ' 

that  mm^  ^  marksmen,  both  ift  Norway  and  New  England 
who  fired  at  the  animal,  sent  bullet,  into  what  they  t^St 
fte  tte«l,  and  tl,e  faet  that  the  wound  seem,  never  to  have  p«^ 
duced  senou,  injury,  although  in  one  case  bloid  flowed  fte^Iy 
aeeords  perfectly  with  the  hypothesi.,  that  they  werk  firing  ^he 
dorsal  pronnnence,  aad  hot  at  the  head  of  a  shark.  The  opinion 
of  most  of  the  observer,  that  the  undulatp"  were  coincide  Jwith 

7^L      1^^  greater  number  of  the.  projections  to  waves  rf     • 
Ae  sea.     On  the  other  hand,  a.  several  of  the  protuberanoo.  ve 

oTiCTT "' ^'■'^ 'r  ■""*  " P"'"^ *"  •"«*■  *e emerged 
rf  these  parts  may  explain  what  other^Wtnesses  beheld.     Dr 

St,d\'^'^  *°  ""*■  *"*  '^  *»  '^  *««  a.  great  „: 
twh'i^  «%  ^"^T^i  '"°™"*''*  ""'''  "  '«'  ha.  desiribedT; 
the  three  fin.  would  be  first  submerged,  and  then  i;e.eme,  ' 
such  rapid  succession,  that  the  image  of  om  set  would  be  rel 
on  the  retina  of  the  eye  after  another  set  iPbecome  visibf 
they  i,«ght  be  counted  over  and  over  again,  and  muItinlLnH' 

most  cas^,  .«*,  confusion  of  the  images  seem,  very  posribfe 

.8«.  to  Hav?ai^^^t^r;rr  i: 

Ante, 


v 


«f_:^^    ^     Vi     ^ 


V«\/i  ;y  ' ' .  «# 


.  Chap.  VHI.]        CAPT.  M'QUHA^  SBA  SERPENT. 


:a^ 


n 


r 


i^hit^'  has  I 


calm  weather,  when  the  serpent  fwam  by,  as  if  a  steamer  at  fuU 

speed  was  passing  near  the  shoi-e. 

I^nclude,  therefore,  that  the  sea-serpent  of  North  America 

ana^^hr-German  Ocean  is  a  shark,  probably 'the  6Vtta/«s  maxi- 
mus,  a  species  which  seems,  from  the  measurements  taken  in 

.      S  \  ^®^®'  *°  ***^"  sometimes,  when  old,  a  mqch'larirer 

^^MMMd  ever  been  previously  imagined.  It  may  be  objected 
*%nion  IS  directly  opfwsed  to  a  great  body  of  evidence 
been  accumulating  fornearly  a  century,  derived  partif 
o^xperienced  sea-faring  men,  and  partly  from  observers  on  the 
land,  some  of  whom  were  of  the  e(kcated  class.  I  answer  that 
most  of  them  caught  glimpses  only  of  the  creature  when  in  rapi^' 
motion  and  m  ite  own  element^  four-fifths  or  more  of  the  b<>dv 
bemg  submerged;  and  wh6n,  at  length,  the  whole  carcast-dfa 
monster  mistaken  for  a^sea  snake  was  stranded,  touched,  a:tid 
measured,  and  parts  of  it  sent  to  the  ablest  anatomists  and  zo- 
ologists m  Scotland,  we  nartowly  escaped  having  transmitted  to 
us,  wilhout  power  of  refutation,  a  tale  as  marvSlous  ^d  fabulous 
conceding  its  form  and  nature,  as  was  ever  charged  against  Pon- 
toppidan  by  the  most  skeptical  of  his  critics.* 

*  After  the  above  was  Written,  a  letter  appeared  in  the  Enffh-sh  news- 
papers, by  Captain  M'Quhae,  R.N.,  of  the  Drddus  frigate,  daifoTr  ^ 
184^  giving  an  account  of  "the  sea  serpent"  seen  by  him,  Auc  6   184s' 

from  the  western  coast  of  Africa;  the  length  estimated  at  sixty  feet,-liead 
heW  fodr  feet  above  water,  with  something  like  the  mane  of  aiorsf  4  its 
back  which  was  straight  and  inflexible.     Professor  Owen  has  declared  his 

SIJIIS!:  M'n  r'"?  u^  ^"^^^^  °^  '^^  '^°^™^'  '^""'^  *be  Admiralty  by 
Captam  M  Quhae  that  it  may  have  been  the  largest  of  the  seal  tribef  thi  ^ 
sea-dephant  of  the  southern  whalers,  Phoca  proboscidea,  which  sometimes 
aMBlH^  a  length  of  thirty  feet,  and  in«i^viduals  of  which  have  been -known  to 
have  been  floated  by  icebergs  toward  the  Cape.  This  species  has  Qoarse 
tHI  °1-  ?  ."PP®,";  P^'^of  its  inflexible  trunk  which  might  appear  like  a  mane. 
Ihe  chief  impelling  force  would  be  the  deepfy  immersed  terminal  fins  and 

^o::^i:7lhe^.^  '"i  '^'^^  '^'^'  "'^^'^^  '^r^-  ^-^^^ 

Mr.  Owen's  conjecture  appears  to  me  very  probable ;  but,"^before  I  heard 
It,  1  had  made  up  my  mind  that  the  creature  seen  by  Captaia  M'Quhae  dif- 
fered from  the  sea  serpent  of  the  Norwegians  an4.¥ew  Engenders,  from 
whose  description  it  varies  materially,  especially  in  teabienol  when  at  ftfll 
^P»ad,  of  appftieiu  andulatlum,  or  dowU. prommenoes.m 
VOL.  I — ^F  ^ 


f •  #■ 


...'fe'-^' 


•«*' 


■II 


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V 

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<:.   "'  ■  ■■■,      -l     ' 

*     ,' 

■    .       '    f;^'     ■ 

<! 

■    «^ 

*            ■     ■ 

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1  i 

■■■    '^.^ 

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.    ' ,                       ~ 

^*--      -_'\        "'.  ■ 

V       CHAPTER  IX 

with  in  every  lar^  to™  il  P„^^?«t  """'"^  '»«''*  >»  «"•» 
•  almost  impo^^ble  to  ^Z^^^t"^:^  ^'T'"'  ™  ^"""^  '» 
houses,  or  even  suites  of  aC^i   }\"^  '"'*  ""^  *»  *<>ep  , 
«>>t  is  «.  dear,  airf^eU  teS^  •°.^"'*  '"  '  "'y  'l""  W 
at  high  wage,      fe™";  oS,      "*'  ^  '^™"  «»  ''*«'•  "^ 

pie  ?eem  to'set  li  v^'errhTpnvZ™?',*"  """"'^'^  J""" 
we  Englid,  do      Not  lit  T  ''"'"''«*'  ""^  '•»">»  m  private  than 

■  families/reside  „  iZii^L  *™*^  r**  '»«''«"»"■  »»*  'h-J^ 
.  ha.  kuo™  bett  r  d^  ^tT'  T"*"'  ''"P*  ""yr'  '"»»  *•» 
••    di«ijili„e  se-^ra,.'.    ^  '      **  "  "  «~^  ""•»««'■  a»*c«.  te«A  „rf 

the^feVSu^rCfoX  wti'  ^/T-^ "  ™'»^*  - 

meal  at  a  public  table  «rb!L         '^  ^^  °'^^*''  «»  *ake  every 

able  to  co^pa^io^lrt  ^g:!!  'rrr  ""t"'  ^  '^ 
no  principle  of  election  •  to  iZTl  ■  1  .""*''*  *^*«  •■> 
tim«  before  dinner ;  to  ;^?„:°^tr"*°  "»'"»«-««».  short 
«»  g»»ip  and  complaint,  about  ilT  '""'*'"«"'»■■  and  to  liston 
,-ari«^„^  fellow-S.^'it  a^^?  q«"xel..which  so  often 
The  only  alternative  is  to  gerprivate  I™:™*'  >  ^y'^' 
1  at  length  succeeded  in  ti^uri^r .  .^T  "*  "  '""^-  *Weh 
I  had  failed  in  negotik^ilTr"^.'"  the  Tremont  Hon«^  aft,, 

whom  I, had  been^omZnde^^^r^r  r "•  i"'""'^'  «» 
me  hi. apartment.,  and  .Ta«2  W. ..  .*^-  »^'  lowing 

»  *  tempe^nce  housell^^lyC^^r-'l  '^  -^»\"0»™ 
conntenance  betrayed  the^aiusemCnt'l^^i.  ^TJ^Jt'lfZ 


■«!  ,  w^'^g  *  ^Tf»"SW^'»P' 


«-'  f^    «w  iF?^^i»^S^!r»^-^^^^ 


CHAPt  IX.] 


EXCESSIVE  INDUSTRY. 


1  t  , 


1S3 


telligence  afforded  me,  for  he  instRn+l^  ^aa  a    • 

with  the  difficulties  e™rie"t/r  tw     i.  '  '''''^'  ""^ 

,™e  in  the  world.  romTw  t  me  "  We^rt^t^"^*" 
W  the  EogliA,  although  we  Tnot^r^  *  ^t     ?"'" 

ftct.  .  ca«-wom  expresrion  ia  the  countoi^oe.  oT  Z  N  *" 

&tr Jd  tn:hr.?  r  ^  *^i  •'^-^  "'^^- 
and  p^y  iio.  t'efftrof  1":^:^  •  """^  ""^  '-«'^- 

time  to  reCt^n  „  Th  ^  '^J^^^-'.  "^  give  up  «,m, 
-aliz,  the  Sut  .  Z7y  e^^L^t^SSliZ'  '^*-  "  *» 

^  To  scorn  delights,  and  K»e  laborious  day..' 
Our  ancestors  had  to  woA  fifteen  hours  out  of  ever»  t™».f„  «• 
m  orfe,  not  to  starve  in  the  wilderness;  but  we  ZitT^t       ' 
"W  e^y  nerve  when  that  neoes«ty  has  cTLS"      He  t^ 
remmded  me  how  much  more  cheerful  nln^n     '  a  f" 

y««g  negro  chUdren  looked  k  2  slrttT'  ?.,    ""7.*^° 
England,  who  had  aU  the  apwariL^^'  ^  u*^""/  ^^ 
th«r  education.  «.d  over^r^STschcS  ""'  "^  '""^  '" 
1  suspect,  however,  thit  the  principal  causA  nf  rt,o  ao- 

bom  in  America,  of  fiuuilies  settkft^^™  f  ^  ?  ^"'  *~" 
find  their  heklth  improved  by  11.  rE"r,7  rTT^ 
l*a, returned  to  their  native  air^a^^T*  '•'""■"  '^  ^^'^ 
^Uun,  ..lore  a  race  CZ^L^^^  ^^^  ^^'^ 


aj.ate>^<t^. 


194 


EFFE0T8  OF  CLIMATE  ON  HEALTH.        [0««.  IX. 

pla«t.  m  North  Ameno.,  tho»  of  the  middle  and  eouthern  .t«te. 
bemg  almort  aU  dirtmct  fiom  the  European,  points  to  a  ^de 

f  Z?  "'""""■  *f  """'>•''*"  '^'■'K  drier,  and  .her.  W^ 
a  much  greater  annual  range  of  the  thermometer  than  in  oor- 
wepondmg  l.Utud«,  on  the  eaatem  ride  of  the  Atlantic.  Even 
»  eo.mopol,te  a  being  a.  man  mav  dem«,d  more  than  two 
centj.„e.  and  a  quarter  heCore  he  cA  entirely  aecommoSate  to 
»n.t.t«t.on  to  .uch  altered  oircnm,t«..e.,  «ri  before  the  ^ccel 
«™  generation,  of  parenU  c«.  acquire  themKlvea,  and  transmit 

teriilT"*;  "^^  T  ""^  "^™"*«  physiological  peculiarities. 
Enghsh  travelers  often  ascribe  the  more  delicate  healthof  the 
mhabitant.  here  to  their  in-door  habit,  and  want  of  exeVci« 

rtve^to  the  .Svore  frost,  and  long-con tinned  snoJTof^inter, 
and  to  the  mten«.  heat  of  the  summer',  sun.  An  Englishma.^ 
«  usually  recognized  at  once  in  a  party,  by  a  more  roClZ 
and  greater  clearness  and  ruddlnes.  of  complexion ;  and  Tt 
su^nsmg  how  d.st.„gui.hable  he  is  even  from  per«,™  bor^  .f 
B«g!..h  parent,  m  the  Umted  States.  It  i.  alsT.  curious  fact 
Mduch  «em.  generally  admit.«l,  that  the  native  AngloTurt^: 

hT ^™  7       T""""""'  *°  ">«  Anglo-Americans in 

^L^  rZ:       'P^'^-r^-^  "  «  "nystery,  for  there  is 

The  number  of  persons  in  Boston  who  have  earned  in  business 
.r  l,ave  mherited  large  fortune.,  i.  very  great.  ^^0!^' 
a  small  park,  wh  ch  i.  by  no  mean,  the' only  quarter  f/e^ZS 
by  noh  cmzen.  ,.  .urrounded  by  house,  which  might  ZTo 

m«kTr.h?  W  ■  '"'  *'  •'"•«" --"'"e  of  which,  in  the 
m«*et  might  bear  a  oompan«,n  with  those  in  very  fashionable 
parts  of  our  me.ropol,ft_sums  of  from  4000/.  to  20,000/.  .ter- 
W  havmg  been  paid  for  them.      The  greater  part  of  thJL 

^tl^       .    ^  "''  "•'^  ''''*'""y'  «"•'  "f*™  expensively 
Eatertainm«.t.  m  a.umptuous  style  are  not  rare;  butllhe  small 

number  rf  wrrant.  m  »omp«ri«,n  with  the.,  k.f.  in  i?.,g|,„^  , 


.  ti-»  .yi,«-.,  ■^^v^^^i^Q <^  ^  y  •*  #«- 


n 


"s, 


0»A>.  IX.]  STTLB  OF  LIVINO— 8EBVAWT8.  ,j» 

penons  of  oorreipondrng  income,  and  the  want  of  an  eoi.i™^ 
unp«t  to  their  mod.  of  Ufe  an  appearance  o7  dmpMty  wS 

repubhcan  theory  of  equality.     For  to  keep  rervants  here  for 
mere  show  won^d  not  only  be  thought  ab.urd,  brwouirj" 

S'tJl^ir  "''  *f  '"'"'''  '""""venienoe.  rather  than  part 
with  the.p_all„w,ng  them  to  continue  in  «rvice  after  marriST " 
«  the  pract.ce  of  not  a  few  of  the  richest  people,  who  oft^lTo 
no  more  than  four  domestic,  where  there  WJ^d  be  at  Yeart  nZ 
m  London.     I„  consequence  of  this  state  of  thing,,  the  wl  Z 

MpreM  envy  of  the  superior  advantage,  enjoyed  in  Eurone  ^•<.r 
they  are  under  the  delu«on  of  supping  that  wfSii^ 
men^  give  no  trouble  in  .-the  old  JTnt^"  TheTare^n^' 
crowd,  of  poor  emigrant,  here,  especially  from  I.el«d  ^Iw 
empkjrment;  but  for  the  most  part  so  coar*,  ignor.nt%^i 
m  their  habit^  that  they  can  not  gain  admittance  into  genS 
hou«..  No  m.,tre«  here  ventures  to  interfere  with  the  dCrf 
a  servant  maid,  and  girls  wait  at  Uble  with  braided  hair.  X^ 
«  certain  y  „„„  becoming  to  them  when  young,  and  are  'ever 
reqmrrf  to  conceal  with  a  cap  their  n<itly  arrang^  Ck^ 

When  raising  the  dust  at  their  work,  in  sweeping  Sie  flo™ 
they  cover  the  head  with  a  handkerchief  The  New  eS 
«.rvan.s  are  generally  provident,  for,  besides  the  intXnc^^V 
derive  from  their  Sarly  «,hool  education,  they  have  aialable 

down  m  the  world  by  a  number  of  poor  reUtions.  ' 

Many  of  the  woalthict  families  keep  no  carriage,  for,  »i  I 
before  ,aid,  no  on.  affeot.  to  live  in  style,  and  thftrouble  of 
3  T  L^^  coachman  and  groom  would  b.  considerable, 
and  al«,  beoau«,.  the  di.Unce.  in  Beaton  are  small,  and  Z 

^  «rt    T7  '^  """'^'"'°  "•'  """-"^  -  •"  '«^""°" 


^™^*n®Torae.  are  to^  hirad  with  well-dre«od  driyem. 


'^''^•mti^^^r'^^f'''^^'»^-^*^^:  1^  ?  ^  'W^  '-'P'f' 


126 


\ 


EDUCATION  OP  LADIES. 


[Chap.  IX. 


Some  of  their  vehicles  are  fitted  up  with  India-rubber  tubes,  to 
enable  those  inside  to  communicate  with  the  coachman  without 
letting  down  the  glass,  which,  during  a  severe  New  England 
frost,  or  a  snow  storm,  must  be  no  unmeaning  luxury. 

They  who  can  not  afford  to  hve  in  the  metro^lis,  reside  with 
their  families  at  places  often  twenty-five  miles  distant,  such  as 
Ipswich^  and  go  into  their  shops  and  counting-houses  every  morn- 
ing, paying  100  doUars  (or  twenty  guineas),  for  an  annual  ticket 
on  the  radway,  and  being  less  than  an  hour  at  a  time  on  the 
road.  ' 

The  usual  hours  of  breakfasting  and  dining  here  are  much  ekrlier 
than  in  London ;  yet  evening  parties  in  the  most  fashionable 
society  do  not  begin  till  nine,  and  often  ten  o'clock,  which  appears 
a  senseless  imitation  of  foreign  manners,  and  calculated,  if  not 
intended,  to  draw  a  line  between  those  who  can  afford  to  turn 
night  mto  day,  and  those  who  can  not. 

In  some  houses  the  gentlemen  go  up  after  dinner  with  the 
ladies,  as  in  France,  to  the  drawing-room ;  but  it  is  more  com- 
,  mon,  as  m  England,  to  stay  a. while  and  talk  together.     There 
IS  very  little  drinking,  and  I  scarcely  ever  heard  any  conversation 
m  which  the  women  might  not  have  joined   with  propriety. 
Bachelor  amners  are  more  frequent  than  in  the  highest  circles 
m  London ;  but  there  is  beginning  to  be  a  change  in  this  respect, 
and  certainly  the  ladies  are  well  able  to  play  their  part,  foVno 
care  or  expense  is  spared  to  give  them,  not  only  every  female 
accomplishment,  but  a  solid  education.     The  incomes  made  by 
some  men  of  superior  scholarship  and  general  knowledge,  who 
devote  themselves  entirely  to  the  teaching  of  young  ladies,  and 
itill  more,  the  station  held  by  these  teachers  in  society,  is  a  char' 
actenstic  of  Boston  highly  deservmg  of  praise  and  imitation. 

Ihe  influence  of  cultivated  women  in  elevating  and  refining 
the  tone  of  society  and  the  national  mind,  may  nowhere  be  rer^ 
dered  more  effective  than  where  a  large  proportion  of  the  men 
are  engaged  in  mercantUe  business  and  belong  to  a  class  who 
have  too  truly  been  said  -  to  live  ik  counting-houses  that  thev 
may  sleep  m  palaces."  Their  wives  and  daughters  have  leisure 
to  aoqmre  hterary  and  lu^JAntifin  tnflfpn    nnd  to  impiuvu 


■  itii^i< 


**  -  ttjl'^f^  5j  -  ^   Jr^  ^^fWJS?^**^'' 


If 


■rt  V  fv-s-^sJ*" 


Chap.  IX.] 


MABRIAGlto. 


IS7 


understandings,  while  the  fathers,  husbands,  and  brothers  are 
summing  up  accounts,  attending  to  the  minute  detaUs  of  businew 
or  driving  bargams.  ""••lueBB, 

nZ^f'TT  '^*^'  '*"'*  "'^''^^  "^^*^«  P"^**^  fi>«'»ders  of  the 
New  England  commonwealths  on  the  mamiers  of  their  descend! 
ants  IS  stOJ  very  marked.     Swearing  is  seldom  heard,  and  duel- 
ing ha^  been  successfully  discountenanced,  although  they  are  in 
constant  communication  with  the  southern  states,  where  both 
these  practices  are  common,  though  much  less  so  than  formerly. 
The  facility  of  getting  on  in  the  world,  and.  marrying  young 
18  upon  the  whole,  most  favorable  to  the  morals  of  ih/commu' 
nity.  although  it  sometimes  leads  to  uncongenial  and  unhappy 
unions.     But   as  a  set-off  to  this  evil,  it  should  be  stated,  ihat 
nowhere  is  there  so  much  free  choice  in  forming  matrimonial 
connections  without   regard  to  equaUty  of  fortune.     It  is  un- 
avoi4able  that  the  aristocracy  of  taste^  manners,  and  education 
should  create  barriers,  which  can  not  be  set  at  naught  without 
violence  to  the  feelings  ;  but  i,e  had  good  opportunities  of  know- 
ing that  parents  would  be  thought  far  more  unreasonable  here 
than  m  England,  knd  in  some  other  states  of  the  Union,  if  they 
discouraged  alliances  on  the  mere  ground  of  one  of  the  partis 
bemg  without  fortune. 

The  most  eminent  *aedical  men  in  Boston  make,  I  am  told 
about  9500  dollars  (2000/.)  a  year,  and  their  early  career  is  one 
of  hard  striving  and  small  profits.  The  incomes  made  by  the 
first  lawyers  are  much  more  considerable,  and  I  hear  that,  when 
a  leading  practitioner  was  invited  to  transfer  his  businei  from 
Boston  to  New-  York,  becauBe  he  might  be  employed  there  by  a 
population  of  400,000  souls,  he  declined,  saying,  that  his  cUents 
were  drawn  from  a  population  nearly  equal  in  numbers  and  ave- 
rage wealth,  although  not  a  fourth  part  of  them  were  resident  itf 
the  city  of  Boston. 

Bankruptcies  are  rarer  than  in  any  other  mercantUe  community 
m  the  Union  f  equal  extent,  and.  when  they  do  occur,  laiger 
dividends  are  paid  to  the  creditor.  As  most  of  the  rich  private 
eitizeni  hve  within  tjeirjneome^^,  the  State  is  fnignU  and  al- 


Tfioup^  iti  credit  itaidi  so  high  that  it  could  borrow  largely,  it 


W' 


,jiSlttliitiJa.Jd 


tfc'D 


-^S* 


189 


PROTECTIONIST  DOCTRINES. 


[Chap.  IX 

vate  enterprise  and  capital.  ^  P"***^*^  "^^'^  *^  P"" 

In  many  of  the  southern  and  western  states   th^  .^^ 
pohcy  of  Massaohusette  was  represent  to    '*      «'>'°"»«'<^\al 
selfisl..  the  great  capitalists  wisS^TmopllTze  theTT ' 
turmg  trade,  and  by  a  high  UtiffJl^iAr  °^*»"*^<'- 

so  as  to  grow  rich  at  t »,«T  ^     ,^'''^^  ^°'^'^  capitalists, 

a,B  Mi  grow  noft  at  the  expense  of  other  narte  nf  +k/tt  • 

In  conversing  with  the  New  Enrfand«Tf>^  ^  ^'''''''- 

.    selves  that  the  d,Swn»  of  Ctal  7      ?  ■"v"'^'"'  *»"' 
-present  state. of  theu'^^trT  ^1  f    .v"'  '??'"=""''  '"  *« 

their  local  and  individn.r!!^      7    •       'I^'''»*>«  opinions  to 
by  .the  faot."at"Xf  th    oZ  rtS^^^T*'^.'^'™^ 

;u  th^y  successively  Xirtrri'^ix'orr 

There  is  a  »  fiu^  of  t?f  ^  '^'"'"''y  ''«'''^«» 
in  the  New  E^^  Z^'  °Ll.       r'  ^"^^  ^  «'«»«« 
world,  whetht^np^ut^'j'""'' '"''•^  *"»  ™'«'  "''■^  *« 
tune,  in  trade,  if  thV  We  t™.       IZ^^''  malcing.large  for-    - 

place  i^ood'sooiiireSr  SrarS-rw"'%''^'' 
commodat  nff  themsfilvAa  ♦/♦»,  •        """^^y  •      Aneir  power  of  ac- 

by  th.  in.t4tnm"^*?"r'r"T 'I  «"'*'y  *'''''''•*«' 

humble  in  station  sHCTh.v  .^   ^  ""'""''  *°  »"■  ''<'*«™' 

their  W  origin  hy'^ul^a^S^'.ral'^L:  'anTLu  ""'"^^'^ 
ciation.  puroses  ana  laulty  pronun- 

thlfSLlaria.Lll^^i;*'''*  "'  ""^"^  "»  I'-anoe  for      ■ 

^  an/people  deJ^ri'L^Hie'^S-Sr  bTT' 
mans  or  French  tH««  «,-«  ♦v  •        f"^*"*  siocjt.     m  the  Ger- 

standard  odd  of  ritl^^^    t  a'n  w""  T  "^^  '^""^     • 
-o  "  "  n»y  be  ona  af  th^^  ^^..„.;.^,, 


irriaibikii'fefMfTiVfh 


.  iJ^ 


'■i;4J 


•" 


V 


Chap.  IX.]  PECU|.IABITIES  OF  LANGUAGE. 


1S9 


"  w'  o^.^?^-         u    "  "^'  of  eoftemng  the  bald  and  abrupt 

X-  Id  tf  th     A     '°™'*  *"  "  ^'^■""^'^  or  Italian  mo« 
poJito ,  and  rf  the  Amenoang  wew  to  conform  to  the  Draent 

teelf  the  ftdnon  may  Mon  change.  There  arS~.3«,  many  le^ 
mne  old  classical  phra*,,  which  have  grown  ob«Iete  "n  the 
parent  co^itry  and  which  the  American,  retain,  «^ tught  Itt 
to  allow  themselve.  to  be  laughed  out  of.  The  title  of  Mac  ^ 
» jmet.me.g,ven  here,  and  generally  in  Charle.ton  S.  CaroU  ^ 
«d  m  the  South,  to  a  mother  who»  son  ha,  maied!^^  he 
daughter-m-law  is  then  called  Mrs.     By  thi,  means  tCav  rid 

W  !.'f  J  '  "  '*'"'■  ™"T'  «">™only  serves  as  the  equiva- 

thT  ftTLtS  '"'  rr"""'™"  ^'^'^  ^"^  ^^  the  times  >f 
the  first  settlers  which  may  well  deserve  to  be  kept  up,  althoa,  h 
they  may  be  »bjeoto  of  diversion  to  EngUsh  tourist^  In  one 
of  Sturleys  play^  written  just  before  the  middle  of  the  sev«! 

I  «.pp«»,    oceurrmg  frequently  ;  and  if  we  look  farther  bad, 

c^JT—^  "      " ™'^''"  ™*"  ""^  *»  *« " M™''"  »r 

•  •  •    '  For  little  heaviness 
Is  right  enough  for  muchel  folk,  I  guess."  - 

And  in  Spenser's  ««  Kerie  Queene" 

*'It  seemed  a  second  Paradise,  I  guesse."* 

Among  the  most  common  singularities  of  expression  are  th< 
Mowmg  :-...!  should  admire  to  see  him"  for  "I  should  like  ^ 

rfsuJ^rL  '''''  *"  *'""''•"  "^^  "  ^  *^"'"  ^'^  exclamation. 

•▼»r,  are  rarely  heard  m  society  above  th«,  TT^j^jj^T^f,  ^inn,      Qcrn 

♦  Canto  X.  28. 


■'']S^'S'wmK¥Rfjf¥*T^  "vxj  v'fvm^t 


in.    ,j 


130 


LITERABY  TASTES. 


1   •': 


t'll  .' 


ail  ;■ 


[Ohai-.  IX. 

•ioimUy  I  was  m  much  purfed  a.  if  I  was  reading  Tam  o'Shanter 
«,  for  «ampl^  ..  oat  of  kittel"  mean.  •■  out  of  order."     T~5 

h""^'  "  "ri.l^'"'  ^"^^^  '»  ^o  "™«  "-"o  »  it  wrSn 
Pn„l^'  Shakspewe  or  when  the  Utnrgy  6f  the  Church  of 
England  wa.  composed.  The  word  "iU,"  which  in  Great 
B„t«n  me«»  ..not  weB."  rigmfie,  in  America  ..very  S^' 
They  often  .peak  here  of  a  -lovely  man,"  using  the  adjective   n 

'    L  k^aT"'  f,  "r  "'  '  P'""'  *"™'«»  »W  *»■»''".  that 
Ae  „  ..afine  «,d  love  y  woman."  meaning  that  her  chakcter 

Md  disposition  <^  amiable.     "  CleverV  is  applied  to  a  good- 

covered  that  we  had  been  at  cross  purposes,  on  comparing  not« 
a.  to  our  opmions  of  Engliri,  and  American  fiiends.  On  o™ 
o^n  I  s^mitted  that  Mrs.  A.  might  be  ..  a  fine  and  k^! 
woman     but  it  c«id  only  be  said  of  her  by  candlelight.  " 

In  the  htiirary  circles  here  we  meet  with  several  writers  who 

TaSZ^  TlT  '"•'r  «'"«P<"«'»«e  with  distinS  men 
W«T~  1         •"' ^""P"'''^'y '^*'' English  aSiors.    - 

ti.™  oTwW  "^r""*  *°°'^™  •"•*  ""«'''  'h'  oonversation  . 
tiims  on  what  is  gomg  on  m  London.     One  day  I  was  asked 
^^hether  it  were  tiue  that  the  committee  for  dccidil  on^ 

&y  f  A'!*."''  ■"  *"  """  ^""^  "^  Lords,  h.d^vo™dt 

wHl.      .k'"""^"-  ^"^  *^y  '=°"W  "«*8  »P  their  mi„S^ 
whether  they  diould  honor  Pope,  Dryden,  Swift  and  pLTn 

^whether  Milton  was  at  Sm'^IackLLZ^'h"  th  y  cS 
P^siMy  bo  disputing  about  the  rival  claims  of  ll„me  and  llrt 

^^of^^ra^'r^^ '::'rvo^^"^^^^^^ 

^my  friends  to  me,™t„  to  ^J!Z:'^Ti;^J^ 
>»..  to  learn  how  ^hoTLgJ^^r::,;^ 


1( 


Tiff*'!  ■^f  *      * 


'"n£^?'^"¥tp^j 


Chap.  IX.] 


COST  OF  LIVING. 


■"Rf^,  A^"  •<'^ mr-^^-fotfi^i^-^'i,^  "^"n^-^^"^^,/'  .-■'^'^ 


131 


country  was  founded  on  correct  information,  and  was  relieve  to 

Sh'ak^^^^^^^  --  Chaulr'Sse:^ 

onajcspeare,  Milton,  Drj^den,  and  Pope ;  a  result  which   comiiH 
enng  that  a  single  black  ball  excluded,  did  credit  t^iT^S 
and  would,  I  am  sure,  be  approved  of  by  a  literZ  i^?i^ 
Massachusetts.     I  was  also  glad  to  learn  that  in  sTvir^  ^ 

admit  the  bust  of  Luther  into  the  WalhaUa. 

nnnfi^l'^I"*'^'  ^  f  "^'^*  ^'^^^  ^^'^  self-possession  and  self- 
confidence  than  Englishmen,  although  this  ch^acteristic  belo^ 

o'^herTartf  *;,f  5°«*--- ^^an  to  the  citizens  of  mc^toS 

thel.«;r        Kv'  ^"'""-  .  ^'^  '*^"  "*^«'  ^"»d'  **^«  '"^mbers  o? 
the  great  repubhc  are  sensitive  and  touchy  about  their  country. 

SeinTlud  1"      *:,Eng^«h    are  imperturbably  indiffere^' 

teZ  trt  '""""^  ^^  ^"*"*^'  "^^"  "^  »  ^ault,  since  con^ 
tempt  for  the  opimon  of  other  nations  may  be  carried  so  far  as  to 
dimimsh  the  prospect  of  national  improvement.  It  might  be 
better  If  each  of  the  great  branches  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  family 
would  borrow  something  from  the  qualities  of  the  other,-Jf 
John  Bull  had  less  mauvais  konte,  so  as  to  care  less  for  what 
others  were  thinking  of  himself  individually,  and  if  Jonathan 
cared  less  for  what  others  are  thinking  of  his  country. 

The  expense  of  living  in  the  nerthefti  states  is,  upon  the 
whole,  decidedly  more  reasonable  than  in  England,  although  the 
jiress,  both  of  men  and  women,  is  somewhat  dearer.     In  Boston 
also,  the  rent  of  houses  is  very  high,  but  not,  so  in  the  country' 
Traveling  is  much  cheaper,  and  so  are  food,  newspapers,  and 
bopks.     On  comparing  the  average  price  of  .bread  during  the  pre- 
sent year  with  that  in  England,  we  find  that  it  is  about  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  cheaper,  beef  and  mutton  ten  per  cent,  cheaper,  and 
the  price  of  poultry  extremely  moderate.     Why,  in  so  old  a  city 
as  Boston,  the  supply  of  seamstresses,  miUiners,  and  dressmakers- 
shoul^  be  as  inadequate  to  the  demand  as  in  some  of  our  newly- 
founded  colonies  when  .most  progressive,   I  leave  to  political 
economists  to  explain.     My  wife  was  desirous  of  having  a  dress 
M  bonnet  made  up  ii^  a  week,  but  one  miUiner  after  another 


pcTip^lft  undertake  ^ho  task.     It  woul4  be  a  useful  lesson  to 


X' 


"^'5      V»<^7iX' 


■T* 


^'        '^   ~'  It^*         -    ^      ^^    I     ^^tl^TPt  ^^■^ 


r 


132 


ALARMS  OF  FIEE. 


[Ohap.  IX 


those  who  are  accustomed  to  oonsidei^  themselyea  as  patrons 
whenever  tljey  engage  others  to  do  work  for  them,  to  learn 
how  in  reality,  if  things  are  in  a  healthy  state,  the  obligation  is 
mutual ;  but  to  di^over  that  the  usual  relations  of  the  employer 
and  employed  are  entirely  reversed,  and  that  the  favor  is  by  no 
means  conferred  by  the  purchaser,  would  try  the  ipatience  of  most 
travelers.  Friends  interceded,  but  in  vain  ;  till,  at  last,  a  te{»e- 
sentation  was  made  to  one  of  these  important  personages,  that -my 
wife  was  about  to  leave  the  city  on  a  fixed  day,  and  that  Wing 
a  foreigner  she  ought,  out  of  courtesy,  to  be  assisted  ,•  an  appeal 
which  was  successful,  and  the  work  was  then  undertaken  and 
sent  home  with  strict  punctuality,  neatly  made,  and  every  spare 
scrap  of  the  material  honestly  returned,  the  charge  being  about 
equal  to  that  of  the  first  London  dressmakers. 

We  remarked  in  some  of  the  country  towns  of  Massachusetts, 
where  the  income  of  the  family  was  very  moderate,  that  the 
young  ladies  indulged  in  extravagant  dressing— 4 QZ.,  for  ex;^mple, 
being  paid  for  a  shawl  in  one  instance.  Some  of  theticher  class, 
who  had  returned  from  passing  a  year  or  two  in  Germyr  and 
England,  had  been  much  struck  with  the  economical  hi^fsrin 
dress  and  m  the  luxuries  of  the  table,  of  persons  in  easy  circum- 
stances there,  and  the  example  had  not  been  lost  on  them. 

Oct.  28 — Night  after  night  the  church  bells  have  been  tolling 
the  alami  of  fire,  followed  by  the  rattling  of  the  heavy  engines 
under  the  windows  of  our  hotel.  When  I  last  resided  here 
(1842).  I  was  told  that  half  of  these  conflagrations  were  caused 
by  incendiaries,  partly  b^.  boys  for  the  mere  love  of  mischief :  but 
no  suspicions  of  this  kind  are  now  entertained.  Most  of  the 
buildmgs  are  of  wood,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  increasing  use  of 
brick  m  the  private,  and  of  granite  in  the  public,  buildings  will ' 
lessen  the  evU.  The  combustibility  of  the  wood  of  the  white  or 
Weymouth  pme  {^Pinm  strofms),  largely  employed  in  houses 
here,  rfsaid  to  exceed  that  pf  other  kinds  of  timber. 


*>._-  ,t^. 


^^-ij^inpt  iss  f^',^0r^^^it    "'?     '      ^5(^ 


CHAPTER'  X.  '      \^ 

^S^encei-cTmT^  Bridgeman. -Respect  for  Freedom  of 

P^3of  ur.ri»         ?"T"  Congr^gation8.-Emment  Preachers.- 
PoS  ^^"^^P'^'^  Ascetickm—Separation  of  ReI«|iou  and 

i 

Ai'for'trtri  ®''*r.^^  ^^^^'^^  *^^  P«'ki°«'  Institution,  or 
^TZn  Wil^^^  ?'f '  ?'  ^T^.  ^'^"'^  2"'J^-»n,  the  girl ^ho 
we  ^^rturl  ^"^  *i""b  from  infancy,  much  grown  since 
we  saw  her  four  years  ago.     She  is  now  sixteen,  and  looks  very 

whl  nn*  I»  Tif*  "^^"^  ?  ^"^^"^  ^'^^  ^^^'  «*^«  «««d  to  make 
with  one  hand  the  signs  of  all  the  words  which  she  felt  out  with 

the  other.^st  as  an  illiterate  beginner  speaks  aloud  each  sentence 

as  he  spoUs  it.     But  the  process  of  conveying  the  meaning  of  the 

^ords  to  her  mind  is  now  far  too  rapid  for  such  delay,  and  the 

hand  not  occupied  m  reading  remains  motionless.     We  were 

afterward  delighted  to  watch  her  while  she^as  following  the 

conversation  of  two  other  dumb  children  who  were  usinj  the 

mo4em  smgle-hand  alphabet.     She  was  able  to  comprehend  all 

the  ideas  they  were  exchanging,  and  to  overhear,  as  it  were 

evey  word  they  said,  by  making  her  fingers  play,  with  fairy 

lightness,  over  theirs,  with  so  slight  a  touch,  as  not  in  the  least 

degree  to  mterfere  with  the  freedom  of  their  motions.      We  saw 

her  afterward  talk  with  Dr.  Howe,  with  great  rapidity  and 

animation,  pointing  out  accurately  the  places  on  a  map  while  he 

gave  a  lesson  in  geography.     She  indulged  her  curiosity  in  exam- 

ining  my  wife  s  dress,  and.  taking  her  hand,  told  her  which  was 

her  wedding  ring,  and  then  began  to  teach  her  the  deaf  and  dumb 

alphabet.     She  ;s  always  aware  whether  it  is  a  lady's  hand  she 

touches,  and  is  shy  toward  a  stranger  of  the  other  sex.     As  she  is 

new  m  commumctttioa  with  no  less  than  a  h^.n^^^^  nrnnnintnnccg. 

lh«  has  grown  muoh  more  like  other  children  than  formerly""" 


'\ 


u  \ 


w^^^^-"  ""^-^ 


iJl,.T,p,»^ 


,    •    /* 


134 


BLIND  ABYLUM  * 


[Ohap.  X. 


We  learnt  from  Dr.  Howe  that  the  task  of  (jarrying  on  her 
education  has  become  more  and  more  arduous,  forshe  is  naturally 
clever,  and  her  reflective  powers  hav^  unavoidably  ripened  much 
faster^than  the  perceptive  ;  so  that  at(an  age  when  other  children 
would  be  s&tisfied  to  accumulate  facts  by  the  use  of  their  eyes, 
her  chief  curiosity  is  directed  to  know  the  "causes  of  things.  In 
readmg  history,  for  exaiiiple,  where  there  is-^sually  a  continued 
description  of  wars  and  battles,  she  must  be  told  the  motives  for  J" 
which  men  slaughter,  each  other,  and  is  so  distressed^t  their  ^ 
wickedness,  that  she  can  scarcely  be  induced  to  pursue  the 
study.  ^ 

To  be  able  to  appreciate  justly  the  judicious  treatment  of  those 
to  whose  traiaing  she  owes  her  wonderful  progress,  it  would  bo 
necessary  to  be  practically  acquainted  with  the  disappointments 
of  persons  who  undertake  to  t^ch  pupils  who  are  simply  blind, 
and  not  sufliering,  like  Laura,  kder  the  double  privation  of  the 
senses  of  sight  and  hearing. 

Great  pains  had  been  taken  to  make  pne  of  the  boys,  whom 
yi^e  saw,  have  a  correct  4dea  of  a  horse ;  he  had  got  by  rote  a 
long  list  of  characteristics,  and  had  felt  the  animal,  and  the 
mortification  of  the  master  may  be  conceived  on  discovering  that 
after  all  the  child  could  not  be  sure  whether  the  creature  had 
three,  four,  or  five  legs.  After  a  few  days'  intercourse  with  the 
blmd,  we  no  longer  marvel  that  precocious  children,  who  begin 
to  read  early  aud  get  by  heart  and  recite  long  poems,  or  become 
knowmg  by  keeping  company  with  grown-up  people,  are  so  often 
overtaken  or  left  behind  by  those  Who  have  been  neglected,  and 
have  spent  their  time  at  play.  For  when  the  truants  are  sup- 
posed to  be  most  idle,  they  may,  in  reality,  be  storing  their  minds 
with  a  multitude  of  facts,  to  give  a  detailed  description  of  which 
to  a  student,  in  or  out  of  a  blind  asylum,  would  fill  volumes. 

Dr.  Howe  told  ns  of  a  blind  Frenchman  in  the  establishment 
who  could  guess  the  age  of  strangers,  by  hearing  their  voices' 
much  more  accurately  than  he  and  others  who  pould  see  as  well 
as  talk  with  them.  :. 

On  looking  over  the  annual  reports  of  the  trustees,  I  observed 
that  on  Sunday  the  pupils,  about  a  hundred  in  nnmbor,  and 


•'\t^}-'m^ 


Chap.XJ 


OEMBTBBY  OF  ilDDNT  AUBURN. 


(\ 


135 


belonging  to  various  sects,  attend  pubUc  worship  in  several 
cuaerent  churches,  they  themselves,  or  their  parents,  choosing 
80](ne  particular  church.  « Many  of  them,"  says  the  report, 
"attend  Sabbath  schools,  and,  as  teare  is  taken  to  exclude  sect- 
arian doctrmes  from  the  regular  course  of  instruction,  the  opinions 
ot  the  pupils  respecting  doctrinal  matters  in  religion  are  formed 
upon  the  basis  prescribed  by-the  parents." 

The  assurance  here  given  to  the  public  is  characteristic  of  a 
settled  purpose,  every  where  displayed  by  the  New  Englanders/ 
to  prevent  their  charitable  bequests,  as  well  as  their  great  educa- 
tional  establishments,  from  becoming  instruiients  of  proselytizing, 
or  serving  as  hribes,  to  tempt  parents,  pipils,  or  the  poor  to 
jrenounce  any  part  of  their  hereditary  creed  for  the  sake  of  world- 
ly advantages.  Such  conduct,  implying  gJeat  delicacy  of  feeUng 
in  matters  of  conscience,  anda  profound  resi^ct  for  the  sacredness 
01  religious  obligations,  is  Wprthy  of  the  descendants  of  men  who 
went  into  exile,  and  braVed  the  ^demessWd  the  Indian  torn- 
ahawk,  rather  than  conform  outwardly  to  <^eds  and  rituals  of 
which  they  disapproved.    -^  * 

Oct.  29 — Went  to  Cambridge  to  visit  the  cemetery  of  Mount 
Auburn,  where  a  large  extent  of  wild,  unreclaimed,  hilly  ground 
covered  with  oak  and  pine,  has  been  inclosed  for  a  public  burial- 
place.  From  the  highest  emiaence  there  is  a  fine  view  of  the 
surrounding  country.  Since  I  wis  here  in  1842,  a  chapel  has 
been  erected  of  granite,  in  the  Gothic  styK  and  in  good  taste, 
with  painted  glass  from  Edinburgh  in  the  windows,  and  a  hand- 
some entrance  gate,  l^he  chapel  is  to  serve  as  a  Westminier 
Abbey,  Pantheon,  or  WalhaUa,  te  contain  statues,  busts,  and 
monuments  of  distinguished  men.  A  cenotaph  has  been  placed 
m  the  grounds  in  honor  of  Dr.  Cha,nning,  with  an  inscription 
WTTitten  by  a  friend,  m  a  plain,  unambitious  style,  such  as  Chan- 
ning  himself  would  have  wished.  I  rejbiced  to  hear  that  as  his 
luneral  procession  was  passing  through  the  streets  of  Boston,  the 
bell  of  the  Roman  Catholic  chapel  was  toUed  aiiiong  the  rest 
and  I  recollected  with  pleasure  the  conversations  I  had  had 
with  him  in  1841.     They  who  witness  the  iir.p„W  giy»n  by 


mm  to  the  cause  of  popular  education,  the  increasing  liberality  of. 


•J.W^Ji  ,.. 


V 


i1 


i. .'  '^ 


■  ^^^Wi  "^^^^  -^"^ 


x^ 


48« 


siSj* 


i<^ 


BPI800PAL  CHUaOHBS. 


[Ciup.  X 

sentiment  in  New  England  on  matterTof  religion,  and  the  n«at 

populamy  of  luB  works,  might  desire  to  inscrin;^^rr 

"  ^'™  '"  *"  Mlio'  live  their  wonted  Jrea." 

rt.^n  "^  'J^  Epi«,opaI  churohe,  in  Bcton  ate  conducted  on 
the  h.gh.  and  othe«  on  the  low  church  model;  andZ  Trao^ 
*  nan  movement  ha.  had  the  effect  here,  as  in  En«Und  n^rf 
estabhehmg  uniformity  by  a  strict  adherence  to  .^  ™brio  fcu[ 
of  pr»ducmg  a  much  greater  variety  th«.  formerly  i^ZJl 
ner  of  performmg  public  worship.  If.  beride.  .Wk^LTitTj 
AU.an«.an  Creed,  the  American  Episcopal  Chu«J^^M  ZiZ 

from  which  tSX™  lI&rrEt^^^^         TT' 

In  the  Stone  or  King's  Chapel,  the  Englid. TJ^  fe  Zd' 
yith  such  omissions  and  alterations  as  are  reoui«TS^.  OT' 

Anglican  to, the   Unitarian  Church  by  the  conve«io»T  .k 
mmister  and  majority  of  the  pew-holder.'  ,   ButTZ^.  all  ^ 

the  estabfished  church  of  Scotland;     Before  my  fl^  ^t  t 
Boston.  I  had  been  led   to  believe  that  the  J^ori W  tl^ 

ve-ling  laigely  m^ew  England,  ^hich  denies  thTS^ 


/ 


::MiL. ' 


jum^mMisihm^^^  ^.... ..,  .^ 


■^flwo '  ^ 


'  BW,%-i."  F  ^»  -» 


II 


Chap.  X.] 


D.NITAEUN  CONGBEQATIONS. 


137 


t^.T.^f*  "'^  -  "^?'  "  "'"'y  "  presumptuous  to  a«qui«c.  i» 

on  thi.  subject  m  the  Athanasian  Creed.  "We  are  "  ha  7»l7 
"hke  ohUdreu  l„r„  blind,  disputing  about  colo'JI"  '  '"'  ''"'* 
fiv,™  .fc^"'"'°T  ^''''°''  "^"P'^  ''y  *''°  Unitarians  arises,  not 
Z  t''^r^'-  T  *"*"  "'^'*'  '•»*«™'  considerable  thi 
M^v^n^,  T  '^"  *"'"'-  «»™«"«»».  and  knowledge, 
tomy  of  the  leading  „,„d,  i„  the  Union  belong  to  this  sect,  aid 

Zhl  t™'  K*""""*-  ^P"""-  ^*«y'  "">  "her  well-kiowu 
authors  have  been  oonyert,  from  the  CongregationaUsts. 

of  kLn«ir°  "^«  "°  '*'"'*"''  '"  ""y  «-"■«',  no  fixed  oanon, 
Ye^^fTrt      ofScnpture;  is  said  to  be  fatal  to  their  progre«,. 

^isl  hJ  '^"V^  (""-=«  '815)  the  number  of  their 
'  Ch^  ^  T**  '"  *  *'"'■'''''  ""»'  <"  '■"■n  fifty  W  five 
yr.«^H?:r  *"'  PS"^*-"  "«!  ohly  doubled  in  twlnty-fiv! 
^ZluAf  »'~ '«™^«d  me  that  their  rank,  are  «=.roely  ever 
Mormted  from  foreign  emigrants,  firom  whom  the  RomanisU 
P««by^„a„..  Methodists,  Baptist.,  and  Epi«K,palians  Z^X 
draw  large  accewons.     A  more  kindly  foeling  ha.  of  late  yea™ 

2r*.f"?Jr'Zl"''''''"l''™"'""'  Congregitionali...  LC 
S/  1  '!!»^-<"""»»»  ''nter.  of  both  »ots  have  joined  in 
defending  themselves  against  a  common  advenuuy,  namely  tho^ 
«tionalist.  who  go  «,  far  a.  to  deny  the  .historic7;vidrcI'of  Z 
miracle,  related  in  the  NeV  Testament,  and  why.  in  „m.  other  , 
pomU  depart  more  widely  fiom  the  Unitarian  i^andard,  than 
d<«,  the  latter  from  that  of  Kome  itself.  Norton,  autW  rf 
"Th.  Genninene..  of  the  Gospel."  may  be  mentioned,  a.  one 

more  hb«:.^  membom  of  aU  ■•  orthodox"  denomination,  the  praiw 
ofbemgadefohderofthefiith.  ">"  praise 

o„il'^'.°°T5'"''  *""  "'"^  *°  *<"  ^"*«»  S"««».  I  •wed 
opportumtie.  of  hearing  «rmon.  preached  by  many  of  the  m«rt 

ZZ  ^r ~'tr""*  "'■'■"  -""  C"---*'  Henry  Wa™ 


w»rywrthAS,g^-;:^-'^"„:;;uui:b;';jitt;- 


|Sf- 


t 


m« 


138  EMINENT  PREAOHfiRS—CHANNINQ'S  WORKS.    [Ohap.  X. 


of  their  eloquence.     I  had  been  given  to  understand  that  I 
■hould  find  »  want  of  warmth  in  their  discourses,  that  they  were 
too  cold  and  philosophical,  and  wanting  in  devotional  feeling ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  there  were  many  of  them  most  impressive, 
full  of  earnestness  and  zeal,  as  well  as  of  original  views  and 
instruction.     One  of  the  chief  characteristics  was  the  rare  allu- 
sion made  to  the  Old  Testament,  or  to  controverted  points  of 
doctrine,  or  to  the  mysteries  of  the  Christian  reli^on,  and  the 
frequency  with  which  they  dwelt  on  the  mbral  precepts  and 
practical  lessons  of  the  Gospels,   especially  the  preaching  of 
Christ  himself.     Occasional  exhortations  to  the  faithful,  cheer- 
fully to  endure  obloquy  for  the  sake  of  truth,  and  to  pay  no  court 
to  popularity,  an  undue  craving  for  which  was,  they  said,  the 
bane  of  a  democracy,  ^convinced  me  how  much  the  idea  of  their 
standing  in  a  hostile  position  to  a  large  numerical  majority  of  the 
community  was  present  to  their  minds.     On  some  qccasions, 
however,  reference  was  naturally  made  to  doctrinal  points,  par- 
ticularly to  the  humanity  of  Christ,  his  kindred  nature,  and  its 
distinctness  from  that  of  the  eternal,  omnipotent,  and  incorporeal 
Spii;it  which  framed  the  universe ;  but  chiefly  on  occasions  when 
the  orator  was  desirous  of  awakening  in  the  hearts  of  his  hearen 
emotions  of  tenderness,  pity,  gratitude,  and  love,  by  dwelling  on 
the  bodily  suflerings  of  the  Redeemer  on  the  cron.     More  than 
once  have  I  seen  these  appeals  produce  so  deep  a  sensation,  as  to 
move  a  highly  educated  audience  to  tears ;  and  I  came  away 
assured  that  they  who  imagine  this  form  of  Christianity  to  be 
essentially  cold,  lifeless,  and  incapable  of  reaching  the  heart,  or 
of  powerfully  influencing  the  conduct  of  men,  can  never  have 
enjoyed  opportunities  of  listening  to  their  most  gifted  preachers, 
or  had  a  large  personal  intercourse  with  the  members  of  the  sect. 
When  I  wished  to  purchase  a  copy  of  the  writings  of  Chan- 
ning  and  of  Drwey  in  Boston,  I  was  told  that  I  could  obtain 
more  complete  and  cheaper  editions  in  London  than  in  the  Unit- 
ed Sutes ;  a  pjroof,  not  only  how  much  th^y  are  read  ia  England, 
but  that  the  pecuniary  interests  of  British  authors  are  not  the 
only  ones  which  sufler  by  the  want  of  an  international  copyright. 
Qn  inquiring  of  4ha-pttbluhirs  at  Boston,  w  4*>  thy 


'4 


L.^JLMlsJkliJ.'.M^-^ 


-t^^^^    s-y^       t      i-^Ji~t      TT-, 


OHir.  JC.J 


NOTHINGABIANS. 


It 


IN 


•ale  of  Channi,*',  work,  in  the  United  State.  I  wa.  infom.^ 
that  «v«al  of  them,  publidxed  «^arately,  tU^,  "^ 
many  edmon.  and  no  le„  than  9000  copi»  of  the  wLe  farix 

t  Sis  .''^  T^  "^i*"""  »*  OlMgow,  ha.  circulated  widdy 
^nfi3  ^  '  ^*.  *'^  "'^''«  »'■  •'  i«  America  i.  by  no  m^M 

3tef  L^Lf  ^i'T'  ^"«  '•''""'"'  *»  k""*  what  ha.  been 
written  against  thei?  by  their  great  antagoni.t.  ' 

of  STh^^JI  ^'","1  ""^  "'"  '^'"^  *'»'•'  «>»*  •l"''*  »  fifth 
with  htUo^r/^  "J^'"  '"'"'  "Nothingarian.,"  I  tried,  but. 
wth  htue  .uccoM,  to  ducover  the  .trict  meaning  of  the  term 

.?Sor""ir"  r^r-*  indefinite  than  th^ma.1  rfTti 
apphoation.  I  fancied  at  fir.t  that  it  qjght  .ignify  dei.t.  or  in^ 
fideU^  or  perwn.  carele«  about  any  reh*ou.  fS.  or  who  we« 
not  ohurch^roe„;  but,  although  it  mayimetime.  .^mYy  o„T" 
iO^  of  the«,  I  fo„„<,  it  ^„  „,„j,      J^  The  ™r^ 

Utitudinjirian,  u«d  in  a  goo<r«.n«,  appeared  mort  commonly^ 
eonvey  the  meaning;  for  a  Nothing.^^,  I  wa.  info^cd  w« 
indifferent  whether  he  attended  a  Bapti.t,  MethoZt^^br 
nan,  or  Co„gregat.onali,t  church,  and  wa.  often  equally  S^rf 
to  contribute  money  liberally  to  any  one  or  aU  of  thVm.  A  M^t 
odi.t  writer  of  «,me  eminence  remarked  to  me,  that  the  «„„  rf 
doctrine,  embraced  by  the«  denomination.,  w«  not  greaterTf  „ 

t»0Unan  «d  a  low  churchman,  and  that  he  who  would  indUfe^ 
enUy  .ubKribe  to  the«  two  form,  of  Epi«op.hani«n  mUt  ^h 
equal  p.„p„„y  ^  .,y,^  .  Nothingarian.  In  otw3^^1  * 
certained  that  the  term  Nothingaria"wa.  .imply  Zi  Zlr^ 

never  been  oommunioant..     One  of  the  latter,  an  Epi«»pali„ 
once  «id  to  me,  - 1  have  never  joined  any  church  "^jZ.' 

looiety,  dancing,  and  pubho  amu«emftnu "     -'  ^      -  "^ 


UVerwtM  with  «.  K^copaLan  numZ  in  V"pC  .l^„*:j 


i'^^jSa     1,    .    -^ 


,-  .^^<- 


^=^^ 


-'^^•Z  -f^^i**iM^'V^^"'-''-=»ii  " 


«V  ^    f    iw  ■" 


140 


RELIGION  AND  POLITICS. 


[Ckaf.  X. 


V- 


A, 


that  such  ideas  of  austerity  and  asbeticiHoi  were  not  consistent 
with  the  spirit  of  the  Anglican  ChUroh.  ThiMfe  admitted,  btit 
pleaded  the  absoiutei  necessity  of  extreme  strictness  to  enable  them 
to  efiace  the  stigma  transmitted  to  them  from  colonial  times  ;  for 
in  the  Southern  stated,  particularly  in  Virginia,  the  patronage  of 
the  mother  country,  in  filling  up  livings,  was*  for  a  century  scan- 
dalously abused,  and  so  many  young  men  of  profligate  and  im- 
moral habits  were  sent  out,  as  to  create  a  strong  prejudice  against 
the  Established  Church  of  England  in  the  minds  of  the  more 
zealous  and  sincere  religionists. 

On  one  of  my  yoy&ges  home  from  America,,  an  oflicer  of  rank 
in  the  British  army  lamented  that  the  governor  of  on6  of  our  col- 
onies had  lately  appointed  as  Attorney-General  one  who  was  an 
atheist.  I  told  him  I  knew  the  lawyer  in  question  to  be  a  zeal- 
ous BapUst.  '«  Yes,"  he  replied,  "  Baptist,- Atheist,  or  something 
of  that  sort."  I  have  no  doubt  that  if  this  gallant  colonel  should 
visit  New  England,  his  estimate  of  the  proportion  of  Notlpnga- 
rians  in  the  population  would  be  very  liberal. 

Traveling  as  I  did  in  1846-0,  through  a  large  part  of  the 
Union,  iAimediately  after  the  close  of  the  protracted  contest  for 
the  Presidency,  when  the  votes  in  favor  of  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr. 
Polk  had  been  nearly  balanced,  I  was  surprised  to  find  in  the 
north,  south,  and  west,  how  few  of  the  Americans  with  whom  I 
conversed  as  traveling  companions,  could  tell  me  to  what  denom- 
ination of  Christians  these  two  gentlemen  belonged.  I  tt  length 
ascertained  that  one  of  them  was  an  Episcopalian,  and  the  other 
a  Presbyterian.  •  This  ignorance  could  by  no  means  be  set  down 
to  indifierentism.  Had  one  of  the  candidates  been  a  man  -of  im- 
moral character,  it  would  have  materially  affected  his  chance  of 
success,  or  prdbably  if  he  had  been  suspected  of  indifference  about 
religion,  and  not  a  few  of  the  politicians  whom  I  questioned  were  , 
Wrongly  imbued  with  sectarian  feelings  ;  but  it  was  clear  that  in  ' 
the  choice  of  a  first  magistrate  their  minds  had  been  wholly  oc- 
cupied with  other  considerations,  and  the  separation  of  religion 
And  politics,  though  far  from  being  as  complete  as  might  be 
wished,  is  certainly  one  of  the  healthy  features  of  th«  working  of 
the  Amorioan  ^aa^atiwts—  ..  .^^ 


,   t ... 


^i...         ^      "  -       'Jh,^-.''  L  ..i.     tL.,  -Isia™ 


.^^ 


ir 


-"■.-^Mt?*^ 


0 


tAPTEE  XL 

^dTn^TT  p  ^^''^"'?'  «Vd  Representatives—Thanksgiving  Day 
SltfrTT  "p'*'^Tr"''"'^•^*""''"  °^  Pauperism-Irish  Repeal 
EdaoZr  r  England  Synipathizer.-Visit  to  a  Free  School.-Stote 
fefZ  V^f^p*^*^  Social  Rank  of  Teachers—Importance  of  the  Pro- 
fession—RapKl  Progress  and  Effects  of  Educktional  Movement—Popu- 
lar  Lectures.— Lending  Libraries.  .  *^ 

iVJw.  Ip,  1845— Went  to  a  great  meeting  of  about  3500 
people  in  Faneuil  Hall,  where  they  were  discussing  the  election 
of  the  gov;ernor  and  executive  officers  of  the  State.     It  ^as  called 
a  Whig  caucus,  being  only  attended  by  persons  of  one  political 
party,  or  if  others  were  present,  they  were  there  only  by  courtly 
and  expected  to  be  silent,  and  not  interrupt  the  haripony  of  the 
proceedings.      When  I  entered;  I  found  Mr.  Daniel  Webster  on 
his  legs.      Since  the  arrival  of  the  last  mail  steamer  from  Liver- 
pool fears  had  been  entertained  that  the  pretensions  of  the  Cabi- 
net  of  Washington  to  the  whole,  or  greater  part  of  Oregon,  must 
end  in  a  war  b^ween  England  and  the  .United  States.     This 
topic  was  therefore  naturally  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  a  peace- 
lovmg  and'  commercial  community.      The  cautious  and  measured 
expressions  of  the  Whig  statesman  when  out  of  office,  and  his 
evident  sense  of  the  Krious  responsibifity  incurred  by  one  who 
should  involve  two  great  nations  in  war.  formed  a  striking  con- 
trast  to  the  unguarddd  tone  of  the  late  inaugural  address  of  the 
President  of  the  Union  on  the  same  subject.     I  was  amused  to 
hear  frequent  references  made  to  the  recent  debate  in  the  British 
House  of  Commons,  the  exact  words  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  and 
others  bemg  quoted  and  commented  upon,  jiwt  as  if  the  discussion  ' 
had  been  simply  adjourned  from  Westminster  to  Boston      The 
orator  rebuked  the  blustering  tone  of  defiance,  in  which  dcma- 
gogues  and  newspapers  in  some  parts  of  the  TTnion  were  indulg 
iDflr  affainit  Enirl&nii.     TT*  fhs»n  <u«n^«^..^  ^u .r° 


mg  agauut  JJngiwid.     He  then  condemned  the  new  constitution 


--r       ,.  * 


i«i 


POLITICS  IN  MASSACHUSETTS. 


[CHAf.  XI. 


rfTexM  whBh.proh.b.t.  the  Legidature  from  evor.«ttW  the 
bpgdma^ree,  «id  dep«o.ted  the  diversion  mode  from  the  Lk. 
of  the  Whig,  By  the  Abolitioni.ta,  who.  4y  «tting  «p  a  condi- 
date  of  their  owa  for  the- Pre«dent.hip.  had  enabM  their  op^ 
nent.  to  carry  a  man  pledged  to  the  annexation  of  Texas.  At 
the  same  tmie  ho  gave  this  party  the  credit  of  being  ascon^aen- 
.ous  «  they  were  impracticable;  He  then  aUudrf  to  sSr 
»p«ate  organization,"  as  it  i,  here  called,  -munely,  that  of  Z 

Iw?:.  ^r""-     '^e''  ■•»*  ™  J*"  n.^mer'^kefeated  Z 

■     WW       ''i,     "  JT'  ^dividing  the  Whigs,  the  majority  of 

whom  agreed  m  thmkmg  the  present  naturalization  laws  wry 

^Tlf^.  *'*,  »  ""P  '^'^^  ^  P»'  ««  fraudulent  voti^7 
Sat  th^^"""!,'"'  "^  ?  '""f  ^"'^  I"""**""  fe»n  Cicero  showS 
^t  „^  "S!^"  '^'""'^  °°  ^'™8  -^  <»'«iderable  number  at 
least  of  well-educated  men  in  his  large  audience.     The  frwuent 

letter  only  of  the  second  appeUative  being  prbnounced  mated 
strangely  on  my  English  ear ;  for  thonghZ  do  notCwf  oS 
«lv«  ,»  learn  afl  the  Christian  names  of  our4«.t  actor^^  M^. 
T.  P.  Cooke  and  Miss  M.  Tree,  we  are  never  i»  Iac<i.io  ^d" 
m.ce,«non.ous  m  dealing  with  eminent  public  men.     1^1*^ 

^    TT  ••    .  c!  ^"^  ^  ««««»>ned  that  it  meant  Knox  •  but 

ittt^rT-  f~V'''7f'".''»™  »•  'tl-er  signified  t^ 
the  letter  K.  for.  when  first  m  Boston.  I  requested  a  fiiend  to 
teU  me  what  B.  stood  for  in  hi.  name,  and  heripUeT  "F.1 
d^*;  ""^  .umame  w«i  so  common  .  one,  that  let^rs,  ad- 
dressed to  me  wen,  often  mi^sent.  «>  1  got  the  Post-Office  to 
aUow  me  to-  adopt  the  letter  B."  .  , 

.1,  \  T'l  r7  *^'"  *"  "^  •*•'  P»"i»  "wtings  convinced 
that  the  style  of  speiking  of  Mr.  Websti,,  Mr.  EveZ  Z^. 

*rop,  and  some  others.  wotUd  take  greatly  in  England,  both  L 

and  out  of  parliament.     It  was  ah»  satisfactonr  to  reflet  UiaJ 

mM«»chu«,tts.  wheri  the  whole  population  is  more  So^  ' 

than  elsewhere,  and  more  Anglo-American,  having  less  of  reoMl 

^fo^gn  adm«tu„.  whether  European  o,  Africa,,' iTdom^ 

Urty  IS  agamst  the  extension  of  sUvery  to  new  K«ions  like  T^  ■ 


'('V 


,x^ 


'  ■^ 


Chap.  XL] 
, ry^*^^'"' 143 

that. '  like  a  di.hWlltion  ?t?"  ""*  "^<^"'^»t  Porition, 
principle,  and  iS  uS^nrH  T  *""•'"""  *"  "''«"''•  i*«  »^ 
they  ly  in  .CTT^  S^ut  ""1^^'*°  *"'  ""*'  '^ 
.  m  favor  of  more  centra&ation  t  J^^-^^  ''«"  "^P"^ 
.  the  federal  exe,iutive  ^^e  Th.  'l  *'"'^  ""'^'^  P"*"  to 
could  to  weaken  ^rLto^I  1  ''«<"«»t.o  party  did  aU  they 
th*  «>vereigJ^Shu^?^  *?"<*•  f^  B>'P<»«fully  contended  for 

out  seeing  the  beS  K^r'*'"  "1™«<'»tly,  and  with- 
aavtaceToommoSif^rt'^'  ^"'"^"^  '^*  ""«'  '»''">»"  ' 

wa.  a  keen-one     A^alT  ^^^-  """"''"S''  *•■«  «>»tert 

-  eat  comnut.:::'  .«pA.i4''^f ^^ht""^'  *■"  r"*"  "^  <««'- 

my  hand,  printed  iStT,™*  •  •   \j?*      *"  ""  "'^''tor,  put  into 

for  ..he  olC  rf  ^^emoTl  f't'"'  "^^  "^'"  *''«  -^'Oy't^ 
andthirtv-H^lreZZ'  T"*"'-'^^""""-  «™  «°"or., 
to  put  o/e  of  «XT^^e™'  intf  ^  l"^"*""^  ™*«'  «  "'"'*'«> 
"truggle  wa.  UiZ.a^ZhT^ ^*^  ^"i  "^^ '^ 
whom  carried  the  day  butwl^  ^u  ^^r'""  *«  *»""  of  , 
pre»nted  to  me  onJfc'aU«J  t^4  .  °"/"'''*"'  *'"'  »*«"  *^" 
the  Working"^.:?;^  "^  ^-h^'^^hLT  ?"  ^"^  '"^" 
naked  arm.  wielding  a  hamme^and  t  ita  mot  '^,^""7" 
right  aim  of  labor  "     tk-  «  motto,  «•  The  strong 

veyor.  and  aTAHhe  "^^"P:'"'''  »  W«oI«mith,  and  a  .nr-    . 
rare  occurrence  in  a  oonnt«^v  ^''Ben'nei't.  were  of  .     ■ 

^«^ay  «gue  :.;-^i^hi^"j:""^-Lj"  ^°."''- 


■.^■,uu.uy  >.gu,  w.,:  ::^^^^^tr^ 


.  % 


^&liA5*S&.,^l).*i.   i,.!.'". . 


~esipv^-r^  ."^^      j;'.i>m{.  "v" 


144 


THANKSGIVING  DAY. 


[Ohap.  XI. 


many  hotels  and  taverns,  newspapers  of  all  shades  of  opinion  are  * 
taken  in  just  as  in  our  great  club-houses  in  Lojadon,  affording 
oj^rartunities  of  knowing  what  can  be  said  on  all  sides  of  every 
question.  I  have  ance  learnt  from  correspondents,  that,  in  a 
period  of  political  excitement,  the  people  in  many  parts  of  Massa- 
chusetts have  begun  to*'  engage  different  lecturers  to  explain  to 
them  the  opposite  facts,  views,  and  arguments  adduced  for  and 
against  the  chief  subjects  under  discussion. 

Nov.  27 This  day.  Thanksgiving  Day,  and  the  4th  of  July, ' 

Independence  Day,  are  the  only  two  holidays  in  the  American 
calendar.     The  Governor  has,  they  say,  as  usual,  made  a  bad 
guess  in  regard  to  weather,  for  there  is  a  pelting-  rain.     It  was 
indeed  ascertained  by  actual  measurement  at  Cambridge,  that  in 
nineteen  hours  between  yesterday  evening  and  to-day,  at  four 
o'clock,  there  has  fallen  no  less  than  four  and  a  half  inches  of 
rain,  or  one-eighth  part  of  the  average  of  the  whole  year,  which 
amounts  to  thirty-six  inches  at  Boston.     By  this  unlucky  accident 
many  a  familyj|athering  has  been  interrupted,  and  relatives-  have 
been  unable  to^^e  in  from  the  country  to  join  a  merry  meeting, 
corresponding  to  that  of  an  English  Christmas  Day.     Many  a 
sermon,  also,  carefully  prepared  lor  the  occasion,  has  been  preached 
to  empty  pews ;  but  the  newspapers  inform  us,  that  some  of 
these  effusions  vdll  be  repeated  on  Sunday  next.      Sixteen  states 
have  now  adopted  this  New  England  custom  of  appointing  a  day 
for  thanksgiving,  and  it  is  spreading  fast,  having  afready  reached 
South  Carolina,  and  even  Louisiana.     A  month  before,  I  had 
heard  with  interest  the  Governor's  proclamation,  read  in  all  th« 
churches,  full  of  good  feeling  and  good  sense.     He  called  on  t^^^ 
people  of  the  state,  now  that  %  harvest  was  gathered  in,  to 
praise  the  Gtxi  of  Heaven  for  his  bounties,  and  in  their  cheerful 
family  circles  to  render  to  Him  a  tribute  of  thanksgiving  for  Hiji 
goodness : — .  <^  .  '  j  ^^ . 

"Let  as  praise  Him,  that,  under  His  protecting  Providence,  the  instito- 
toons  of  state,  of  rehgion,  of  learning  and  education,  established  by  the 
prudence  and  wisdom  of  our  fathers,  under  which  their  children  have  been 
prosperous  and  happy,  have  come  down  to  us  ui^mpaired  and  in  full 
vigor:  ^ 


i.i^^J>^. 


1  '^^ 


Chaf 


ABSENCf  OF  PAUPERISM. 


1  i 


145 


Wrf°(^'  "'  ?'  '^*'^  '^  -^y  '='^™  •«*  -P  to  the  peculiar 

^Tit  i!        ^  /  ^"^^^  ^^^'"^  ^*^'  °^or^  and  physical 

instruments  of  our  jn.rn.l^eTe:^^t\^J'^l  ^T^:  f 
mation  concluded  thus,  in  the  good  old  styLT  ^ 

Independence  of  the  Uni^^^^S'^t^ 

» Bv  !,,•»    1?        n  •  '   "  GkoBOK  N.  Beiggs. 

JJy  hw  Excellency  the  Governor   with  th.  -j™-  j 

CounoU.  wivernor,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the    * 

„  _   ,  "  *^°=«  ^'  Palfebt,  Secretaiy. 

God  save  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts." 

The  almost  entire  absence  of  pauperism  even  in  th^  v. 
^  towns,  except  among  the  old  and  iXm  foms  a Tri^n.  '  •  7^ 
*  contrast  between  the  state  of  things  b  Tew  E"^I^'^^'^^^  ^ 
Europe.     One  of  mv  friends   wKoT       •  *^"«^^"d  and  m 

Bo'stor  to  see  thar^br!!!    ^J        "^^^  ^^'^  *  coihmittee  in 
Biun  xo  see  tftat  the  poor  who  are  too- old  to  worlr  h.^^    n 

Claw  of  In*,  may  now  be  .een  Uving  in  mud  huta  hv  fLT7 
of  raJway  cutting.,  which  they  a«  LpC  t  I'wt  1°     ' 

wV^tT  '^r  'S*"""*  '«"°"»'  "">  »np«»titiou.  of  n^rta 

™nfe«  .  me'r  theXw^^^rSey^^^  ^^^^ 
the  construction  of  publio  worlra  «r.A  «i>*  •  j  •  ^  "" 
mnn. ,.      n     ^P°"°^°!"».'^^0P*«"n  good  interest  for  tbpjr - 


mon^ 


^;^^a^H^ortEi.eo„..^Sr:?^— ^ 


7 


ft^ijSte..  ^,   .» 


!>Iia..S^tluLj^jiliMb'yku2u,l£^;iue 


:  |,^*r"-"-  :;■  ■  .^'J^^MyT^v-W.^ 


146 


IRISH  REPBAJ^  MEEriNO. 


[Chip.  XI. 


^ 


They  speak  also  -with  kindness^ of  the  Irish,  saying' they  are 
most. willing,, to  work  hard,  keep  their  temperance  vows,  and,  in 
spite  of  the  considerahle  sums  drawn  from  them  by  the  Catholic 
priests,  are  putting  by  largely  out. of  their  earnjlngs  into  the 
Savings  Banks.  It  is  also  agreed  that  l^ey  are  most  generous  to 
their  poor  relations  in  Ireland,  iremitting  moni^y  to  them  annually, 
and  sometimes  ejliough  to  enable  them  to  pay  their  passage  across 
the  Atlantic.  At  the  sp,me  time  they  confess,  with  much  con- 
corn,  that  the  efforts  now  making  by  the  people  at  large,  aided 
by  the  wealthiest  class,  to  establish  a  good  system  of  state 
instruction,  and  to  raise  the  moral  sRid  intellectual  character  of 
the  millions,  must  be  retarded  by  the  intrusion  of  so  many  rude 
and  ignorant  settlers.  Among  other  mischiefs,  the  political 
passions  and  party  feelings  of  a  foreign  country  are  intruded  into 
the  political  arena,  and  a  tempting  field  laid  open  to  demagogues 
o(  the  lowest  order. 

Returning  home  one  night  afler  dark  from  a  party,  I  heard 
music  in  a  large  public  building,  and»  being  told  it  was  a  repeal 
meeting  held  by  the  Irish,  had  the  curiosity  to  look  in.  Afler  a 
piece  of  instrumental  music  had  been  performed,  an  orator,  with 
an  Irish  accent,  addressed  the  crowd  on  the  sufferings  of  the 
Irish  people  precisely  .as  if  he  had  forgotten  on  which  side  of  the 
Atlantic  he  then  was. '  He  dwelt  on-  the  tyranny  of  the  Saxons, 
and  spoke  of  repeal  a?  the  only  means  of  emancipating  their 
country  from  British  domination,  and  solicited  money  in  aid  of 
the  great  cause.  Seemg,  with  no  small  surprise,  an  industrious 
native-born  artisan  of  Boston,  whom  I  knew,  in  the  crowd,  I 
asked  him,  as  we  went  out  together,  whether  he  approved  of  the 
objects  of  the  meeting.  He  belonged  to  the  extreme  democratic 
party,  and  answered,  very  coolly  and  quite  seriously,  "  We  hope 
thaf'we  may  one  day  be  able  to  do  for  Ireland  what  France  did 
for  the  United  States  in  our  great  struggle  for  independence." 

On  my  return  home,  I  found  that  my  pocket  had  been  picked 
of  a  purse  containing  fortunately  a  few  dollars  only,  an  accident 
for  which  I  got  no  commiseration,  as  my  friends  hoped  it  would 
*  be  a  lesson  to  me  to  keep  better  company  in  future. 

That  a  humbloifcmechanic  of  Boston  should  be  found  who 


iDi^^ecJ 


(fe,:-.s 


■*'  ■■*?f  > 


,.:;«.,»' 


t^^ 


O""-  XI.]  VISIT  TOAFBEESCHnof  ,^, 

indulged  in  *riM  p„jeet.  for  redrewing  the  wron„  of  th«  v,u~ 
■     man  race,  oueht  not  to  nr..*.  ,       i         ,  ^"'""P  "'  the  Hiber- 
the  end  of  thVyMr  IfiVf  T^-"'  "''*"  ^  •*•'«  •"'at  before 

by  Mr.  M.C0ISI  on!  of  fho  "'"L"  T  """"  »  Co«gre«, 
hod  been  tallTrmuoh  1  »  .T""*^"  *"  '^'''''»'"»'  »ft<»  he 
peaceful  broTrhoorwL^  V*"  T',*  "^  ^l-™"""  '"^  '"d 

British  misrule  have  fj  .*.*''«  I"*-  P<>"nd  down  by 
monarchicalCkeanT  a™  n"?^ /"""'<'  '"«'"  »  ''"ifrn 
our  free  in  J:^!?'  I^hlonl  t  '"  " T  *"  "''"'"«'  "^ 
abaurd  motion  ™  not  eveH^^S       "''  ''""'™''  """  *•"' 

ali-ut  a5,00*'o/of  wtrjoS^  :r^"'"'"J'"^>'  '»««P'e»nt 
Irish  extraction;  )ZTJTJ^a"'"'  ^''""'"<"'-  "^ieflyof 
emigrant,  in  the  chv  T  ^  ^^^  "^^  ^^'^  "^  English 
he  d.ne?ott«  a.em  in  r*".?"™  *°  "■"  ''"^  ""-"h  may 
was  take^o  lT,^::^2,Z'J^t' Zp^"-  ' 

^otTe^ta^tr  rd""-  ^'^^^^^'^^^''VZ 
We  entered  a  'uite  of  ihZ  °"f,  ""*.'""  '''""y  """^Peeted. 
«;;.».     There  wrnilrherf;;rrr"'ThrfS^^'° 

ttm^:na:^rof";:ria:?  *^^"^«  ^17:^0:7 

m  good  circumsta^cl  ^Eal^T,  *"■'  *"""  "^  them  of  parent. 
oh.rir  with  a  CkTlt  t?.^  "^  K  "  '""  •'"'^  °»  »  ««P"ato 
ground  to  prev^:  ^,^  TherTw "*  '^r'"^  ^^  ^  «>« 
but  evidenUy  mochTtentir ?  ""i  ""''"""y  o*"  «»"»»«. 

them  more  drZd  th^  w^l  ^'^^'"1  ''"''*"^'  "'"'X  "^  ^ 

dren  of  a  corre^diiT^t  ^n^S'^t  ^J^  "  "''"- 
studies  at  nine  o-olook  in  T,  "  ^"P"^  ,  ^hey  had  begun  their 

Bohooi.  'tudying-^'^'::.  trT^-^Hhtt'^'r  "* 

ten  minutes  for  play  in  a  v»rH  -li  •  •  r  ,  """*  »"'"«'«' 
girls  very  intent  on  Ll'^^    u   r  "!°^-     '^  '''*'"'«*  «»>'«  of  the 

other  o-ir°xtVdt;triM  ft*'*"™  "«•  - 

pomttf  „iicu  they  are  sTudyimr.     t£  nX  J2:_r!~.7^     ^^ 


-r:-''^-^^^^^:^^^^^ 


/' 


<..W<»44<>'i;>' 


■  srfff  *' 


M 


148 


STATE  EDUCATION. 


[OHAr.  XI. 


reprimand  before  the  class,  and  keeping  them  back  after  school  '^^^ 
hours.  The  look  of  intelligence  in  the  countenances  of  the  greater 
number  of  them  was  a  most  pleasing  sight.  In  one  of  the  upper 
classes  they  were  reading,  when  we  went  in,  a  passage  from  Paley 
"  On  Sleep,"  and  I  was  asked  to  select  at  random  from  the  school- 
books  some  poem  which  the  girls  might  read  each  in  their  turn. 
I  chose  Gray's  Elegy  in  a  Churchyard,  as  being  none  of  the 
simplest  for  young  persons  to  understand.  They  each  read  a 
verse  distinctly,  and  many  of  them  most  gracefully,  and  explained 
correctly  the  meaning:  of  nearly  all  the  words  and  allusions  on 
which  I  questioned  them. 

We  afterward  heard  the  girls  of  the  arithmetic  class  examined 
in  algebra,  and  their  answers  showed  that  much  pains  had  been 
taken-  to  make  them  comprehend  the  principles  on  which  the 
methods  of  calculation  depended.  We  then  visited  a  boy's  gram- 
mar school,  and  feund  there  420  Prqiestant  and  100  CatHolio 
boys  educated  together.  We  remarked  that  they  had  a  less  re- 
fined appearance  and  were  less  forward  in  their  education  than 
the  girls  whom  we  had  just  seen,  of  the  same  age,  and  taken 
from  the  same  class  in  society.  In  explanation  I  was  told  that 
it  is  impossible  to  give  the  boys  as  much  schooling,  because  they  v 
can  earn  money  for  their  parents  at  an  earlier  age. 

The  number  of  public  or  free  schools  in  Massachusetts  in 
1846-6,  for  a  pomdation  of  800,000  souls,  was  about  3500, 
and  the  number^  male  teachers  2585,  and  of  female  5000, 
which  would  allow  a  teacher  for  each  twenty-five  or  thirty  chil- 
dren, as  many  as  they  can  well  attend  to.  The  sum  raised  by 
direct  taxation  for  the  wages  and  board  of  the  tutors,  and  for 
fuel  for  the  schools,  is  upward  of  600,000  dollarSj  or  120,000 
guineas  ;  but  this  is  exclusive  of  all  expenditure  for  school-houses, 
librajries,  and  aj^aratus,  for  which  other  funds  are  appropriated, 
and  every  year  a  great  nxunber  of  newer  and  finer  buildings  are 
erected. 

Upon  the  whole  about  one  million,  of  dollars  is  spent  in  teeth- 
ing a  population  of  800,000  souls,  independently  of  the  sums 
expended  on  private^truction,  which  in  the  city  of  Boston  is 
wppoeed  to  bft  equal  to  the  money  levied  by  taxes  for  the  free- 


'f.H^-  i»p 


Chap.  XT.] 


PAY  OF  TEACHERS. 


U9 

DODuJati™,  „f  .      7    •^"°'  '*""°»  *•>*  "«>•  proportion  to  out 

1«L  ^Z~         r""  ■"'"'""•  ""«"S'  ■»''  ^o""  then  be  &, 
loM  effective,  owinfe  to  the  higher  cost  of  livimr  and  th Jp„r 

for^Lfe^"  the  roart*  of  the  Latin  School,  where  boy.  are  fitted 
toLt  P       u   "'\°^*"  of  *he  High  School,  where  they  «e 

rCrftL^t^th^-^:-^-^^^^^ 

ants  bOO  (125^.),  and  their  female  300  (651.).     The  nmtreae. 
^of  school.,  where  children  from  four  to  sevin  year.  old~Z^ 

are  about  one-third  lea.  ,  and  in  rural  district.,  where  the  Kjhool. 

The  connflr  of  Worcester, ']Vt»«»ch».ett.,  for  example  has  a 

il  L^„  *"'"«  ^^P*  "P«"  «>■»«  «»«'  "ther.  twelve 

month.,  "ttd  on  an  average  nx  months  in  the  year.     The  male 

J:1J,T^,'  **  ™'?'"  ,*'"'''°"-  "^  *kom  there  are  700. 
about  13  doUan  a  month  (21.  15s.).  *     « 

Among  other  changes,  we  are  told,  in  the  State  Report,  that 
ants  m  geaeml  were  d^itom  that  T  .K^ni-^  --         ^V y^^o^oi- 

■I  ^MM^i    Mil    ^BM     ■I    u.  fl     ■  H  *i  ■■  i^H  ^  ---:  --  .-  ■    '.       -    -     .-  --.  .^^  -  -    .  —  ,,„,_^__.  ^,—4--  ^.-.    -^^TnSSwffl 


„r«Ai,iiBi7t'*fr- — --^-  rry--""^*"""  ■^■i-i-  BomiJft  nnflftrHtan4  that  the 
-access  oi  uieir  plau  ofnataonal  eduoati^Tdoe.  irdej^nd  Tmu^ 


S 


"ft 


,^-A^ 


^Tw^^^^y , 


V^J-*        t '"i-    J    J-    flJTTft^Vf.-'f     v^M"^   t™. 


150 


SOCIAL  POSITIOIC  OF  TEACHERS.  tOnxr.  XT. 


i| 


••    i« 


on  the  number  and  pa^  of  the  teachers  as  on  the  interest  taken 
in  it  by  the  entire  population,  who  faithfully  d  vote  more  tjme 
and  thought  to  th^  management  of  the  Bchools  than  to  any  other 
public  duty.  '         % 

The  cost  of  living  in  New  England  may,  on  the  whole,  be. 

taken  to  be  at  least  one-third  less  than  in  Great  Britain ;  and 

the  spirit  of  the  political  institutions,  the.frugal  manner  of  conduct- 

^ing  the  government,  the  habits  of  society,  and  a  greater  general 

"■^^uality  of  fortunes,  where  the-  custom  of  primogeniture  does  not 

V      prevail,  causes  the  relative  value  of  incomes  such  as  those  above 

enumerated,  to  confer  a  more  respectable  social  position  than 

they  would  do  with  us.     I  was  assured  that  in  the  country 

towns-  the  schoolmasters  associate  with  the  upper  class  of  citizen^ 

holding  as  good  a  place  in  society  as  the  clergy  and  -medical 

men,  but  not  ranking  so  high  as  the  lawyers. 

On  this  i)oint,  however  (the  relative  position  of  the  teachers), 

I  found  great  differences  of  (^nion  among  my  informants ;  but 

a  genpral  a^rreement  that  their  pay  and  social  rank  ought  to  bo 

raised,  so  as  to  enable  the  state  to  comman(|,  tlkje  Services  of  m,en 

.  and  women  of  the  best  abilities  and  accomj^^shments. 

Channing  had,  for  many  years  before  his  death,  insisted  on 
the  want  of  institutions  to  teach  the  a^^  teachii^.  There  are 
now  several  of  these  normal  sohoolsajj^Wactivity,  where  a  course 
of  three  years'  instruction  is  givepfi  As  yet,  however,  few  can 
'  afford  to  attend  more  than  one  yMr  ;  but  even  this  short  training 
has  greatly  raised  the  general  siindard  of  efficacy,  and  the  bene^ 
ficial  influence  has  extended  ei^en  to  schoolmasters  who  hi^ve  not 
^t  availed,  themselves  of  the  new  training.     The  people  have, 


.^.., 


?^ii»m^esponded  generously  to  the  eloquent  exhortations  of 


ig;  hot  to  economize,  for  the  sake  of  leaving  a  fortune  to 
the  rising  generation,  at  the  expense  of  starving  their  intellects 
and  impoverishing  their  hearts.  It  was  a  common  prejudice,  he 
said,  and  a  fatal  error  to  imjigine  that  the  most  ordinary  abilities 
are  competent  to  the  office  of  teaching  the  young,  «« Their  voca- 
tion,  on  the  contrary,  is  more  noble  even  than  that  of  the  states- 
man, and  demands  higher  powers,  great  judgment,  and  a  capacity 
of  comprehendinff  the  law  nf  tl^nngrht  »«^  mnrnl  nrtion,  and  tho 


i^i.'i.t^  >. ,  ^ 


.,£ 


■Oha,.  XL]  HIGH  OFFICE  OF  TEACHEBS.  „, 

TOriTO.  .pring,  and  „<,«„,  j,    ^^^^  ,^   ^  ^  ^^  _ 

the  most  vigorbu.  use  of  aU  its  fkouWe.  "  * '  '" 

U,  me'Slttw  ""1^  "^'^  "•"'*  enthusiarto  admirer,  e.nfe«ed 
~  ™  *k''t  they  could  not  afflent  to  his  doctrine,  that  "to  teach 
whether  by  word  or  action,  i.  the  highest  function  .ne^rtt  " 
^les.  young  men  «ui  wnen,  between  the  age,  of  tov^t^^J 

b^^of  ft7»  rr^  *^T  '^'^  ■»<•  <•»"  that  the 
OUMUM,  of  the  «!hochna,ter,  who  i,  tp  teach  reading  and  writing 

and  the  elements  of  knowledge,  must  check  the  de^elopiZrrf 

of  ;ZL^CTar  ""'"T '" '""'"■     ^the3"«:nfs 

they  SAt  t„T°  1"°*"'*'''  *°  ^"^  «»d»»on;   but 
tZ  —"' .       ">»*  to  despond  at  present  would  be  premature 
The  expenment  of  promoting  the  teacher  of  every  ™7„ 

S:.  rhoH  Z'^:""^  theinportance  of  hi.  d?«e,  ell«  ' 
^to  hold,  and  of  trammg  km  in  his  art,  has  never  yet  been 

meri'f  ^"  ^°*  *°  '*""  ^"^  "»''  ^  the  effect  of  encouraging 
men  of  superior  energy  and  talent,  who  have  a  natural  tasJff^ 

L^i:r<ie!*r^4:';.,''^""«^  ^rf^  the  lega,. 
drudgery  and  »„ti„e  o7'^^'^%L'^i:^'>r^^^ 
meats,  ,t  may  afford  a  field  for  thi,  enlargement  of  thTj^"; 
they  who  exercise  jt  enjoy,  in  a  like  de^,  aocl  to Te  til 

TZTstZ- 3'b'"""r  ^'^  the^Lost'cXrtJ^;^ 

m  their  distnet,  and  have  leisure  aUowed  them  for  self^„lt„™ 
t^her  with  a  reasonable  hope,  if  they  distin^i  ZZ  ^ 
of  ^ng  promoted  to  po.ts  of  honor  «.d  emolum^,  nqT^MW 
profewens.  ,uch  a,  the  clerical,  but  in  their  own  m  wl 
school,  of  Boston,  supported  by  the  state,  are  now  so  y^al  m^^ 
aged,  that  »me  of  my  friends,  who  wouli  gruL  ^exlrto 
engage  for  their  mn,  the  best  instructor,,  semi  ^r  wf^  .t 


•  01a»gow  Ed.,  vol  i.  p.  391. 


.  tL.i■a^ri/■^.■^.£B*k!^^s,l.■  ■':. 


■  .i£~ti'^Miiiht'>Sitd 


^^ 


152 


EDUCATIONAL  MOVEMENT. 


[Cha^,  XL 


could  iflore  easily  be  induced  to  stay  until  the  age  of  sixteen. 
Young  men,  it  is  said,  would  hate  nothing  so  much  as  to  £nd 
themselyes  mfenor  m  education  to  the  women  of  their  own  aee 
and  station.  ^^ 

Of  late  years  the  improvement  of  the  schools  has  been  00 
rapid,   that  objects  which  were  thought  Utopian  even  when 
Chanmng  began  his  career,  have  been  realized ;  a^d  the  more 
sangume  spirits,  among  whom  Mr.  Horace  Mann.  Secretary  of 
the  Pubhc  Board  of  Education,  stands  preeminent,  continue  to 
net  before  the  eyes  of  the  pubUc  an  ideal  standard  so  much  more 
elevated,  as  to  make  all  that  has  hitherto  been  accomplished 
appear  as  nothing.     The  taxes  self-imposed  by  the  people  for 
educational  purposes  are  still  annually  on  the  increase.  aSad^the 
beneficial  effects  of  the  systeip  are  very  perceptible.     In  aU  the 
large  towns  Lyceums  have  been  established,  where  courses  V 
lectures  are  given  every  winter,  and  the  qualifications  of  the 
teachers  who  deliver  them  are  much  higher  than  formerly.     Both 
the  mteUectual  and  social  feelings  of  every  dass'are  cultivated 
by  these  evemng  meetings,  and  it  is  acknowledged  that  with  the 
increased  taste  for  reading,  cherished  by  such  instruction,  habite 
of  greater  temperance  and  order,  and  higher  idea,  of  comfort, 
have  steadily  kept  pace. 

Eight  years  ago  (1838)  Chamiing  observed  that  "million^, 
wearied  by  Uieir  day's  work,  have  been  chained  to  the  pages  of 
Walter  Scott,  and  have  owed  some  bright  evening  ho\^  and 
bahnier  sleep  to  his  magical  creations ;"  and  he  pointed  out  how 
many  of  the  labormg  clai«e.  took  delight  in  history  and  biogra- 
phy, descriptions  of  nature,  b  travels  and  in  poetry,  as  well  as 
graver  works.      In  his  Franklin  I^ecture.  addressed   in  1838   to 
a  large  body  of  mechanics  and  men  earning  their  livelihood  "'by 
manual  labor     he  says.  "  Books  are  the  true  kvelers,  giving  to 
>1  who  wiU  faithfully  use  them  the  society  and  .piritLjTre.- 
ence  of  the  be«t  and  greatest  of  our  race ;  «,  that  «i  individual 
may  be  excluded  from  what  is  caUed  good  society,  and  yet  not 
pine  for  want  of  inteUectual  companionship  "*  ^ 

When  I  asked  how  it  happened  that  in  so  populous  and  rioh 
*  Changing,  ygl.  jj.  p.  878.      . 


.ii&na 


1  ii^A^^Ai^^JB..: 


■'T''  p^'i*^'^' 


~m  '?^ifwsf*V!-'^it/w>^ 


fmMys^^vr^-^ 


'^^^laiiaA^aaitaiaaeBsa^^ 


^Pf 


Ohap.  XL] 


'OPULAB  XECTUBES. 


#»  city  a«  Bogton  therA  w«o  I*     "**""     ""        "^"^ • 

houses  of  pers*.  „f  t^,  .^ddlW^r^     V!^  ^  **"  ^«°  «>e 
often  find  the  father  of  a  tZuv^tV^  ^^"^^  *'»«'  ^  »1«»W 

one  of  the  ie«  modem  noTeb,  wUcht  t^.      V  '^'^  "*"<•«»• 
five  cents ;  whereas,  if  ti^ZTk     „u      ?""''"'»«'» «» twenty- 
*»t  for  many  times  iZ  ^'^h^lf  ^r  ^^'  '^-  ^  <»»" 

W  Tpri.^  |n;Si2  t^hTr^ia!"^  l^  a^»«n.anee  I 
.^  «.doj»„al  wort,  en&T^;^,^^rf^'r  »«««.».   . 
no    onJ«|ci<«,d  to  ui  a  lively  pictu«  nf?/-        'I  **  **"*" 
'  Wf^  incidentallv  hol^f  k  *  "  *^«  fc^OMtle, 

at  random  from  fhe  mer  ha„t  s^^  f  ^r**'''  """  '«"■''«> 
^  .mpmved  by  associating  ^tha^„  I      ^f"T  """»»'•  »<>»« 
He  wa,  able,  o„  „„«  of  "L^*  hoM     """""'"^t^'  "-e^mate. 
them  in  California  by  the  mtl  ^vr.„^'  T''>''  ^"^  granted  to 
them  from  going  ashore  wh^Ttbf?!'."^  ""P*""''  to  keep 
'ipation,  by  reading  t^  thlh.  for  ll^'™"  ^f^"  '"'^^S^  "  di^ 
•'  Woodstock."     A#e  ougtt  «,Li:  ,1;  ^}"  ^^'"""'i  tale  of 
I  have  «ud  of  the  common  S  of™tk      T'^v'  '""  *■"* 
audiences  should  be  drawn  nilt  .ft-        I'  '"!^-  **"  ''"*'l«i 
wmter,  in  spite  of  frost  Z  2w  tl  7^\  *^""«''  "■"  ^k"'" 
mechanics,  mingled  with  2,2  rf  Zh-      .""  °^  '"""'"  """J 
deep  interest  to  lecture.  onTaturaJ  ?h    ,     "'°"'  *°  """"  *ith 
the  writi^j.  of  Shakspeare,  C  teau««  "*?•  T'"^^'  ^'"^y- 
the  peculiar  exceUencie.  of   -cl!!"^  "^"Paradise  Lost," 
an  elevated  style  by  men  who  wlTd  ^i  "  ^7°'''"'"  •"•««•  '» 
*«S»f  ""^ed  a-dienc^sTnC™  ^  ''"^  ''*''  P'"-"  ^X  ' 

of  puluc  am:2;n\.t'girrriirj'tf*'  *";*  ','"'"'  "  "  -«"" 
whose  d^ly  employmentf  are  „  ™   """  """^  "'^"'e  multitude, 

far  mora  th.«  I  S,t^ff„^tS°^°-'"  """^  '^"^  "l-^" 

.    PPortunme.  of  innocent  recreation,  Mich 


184 


LENDING  LIBRABIE3. 


tOBA#.  Xt 


as  concerts,  dancing,  and  the  theater  riiight  give,  under  proper 
regulations ;  for  these  are  now  usually  discouraged  by  religion- 
ists, wha  can  find  no"x)ther  substitute  for  them  but, sermons  and 
reiterated  church  sAices.  !     V 

Ataong  the  signsV  the  times,  and  of  the  increasing  tapte  for 
reading,  the  great  number  of  lending  libraries  in  every  district 
must  not  be  forgotten.  Toward  the  purchas^of  these  the  State 
grants  a  certain  sum,  if  an  equal  amount  be  subscribed  by  the 
inhabitants.  They  afe  Idft  to  their  own  choice  in.  the  j^urchase 
of  books ;  and  the  best  English  poets,  and  novelists,  are  almost 
always  to  be  met  with  in  each  collection,  and  works  of  biography, 
l^story,  travels,  natural  history,  and  science.  The  selection  is 
careful^  made  with'  reference  to  what  the  people  will  read,  and 
not  what  men  of  higher  education  and  station  think  they  ought 
to  read. 


n 


*■:■    ,' 


'^ .: 


ifi 


4£i* 


\ 


'■^^^Tf*  V    -  "  «(J*3'4 


:  tr. 


'.•* 


,v^  ;*,-*:• 


CHAPTER  Xil.  '        ^      X 

'    "        <.      "  '  '  "" .  ^  •         .■  .',■■■        "  •■ 

B^,  PojMJar  Edacation,    continued Patronage  of  tJniversitie-  anH 

^  Sit^Tt:?"~^x"^.„?'«^'^»^  ^^««  Schools—Their  Or giZ.S 
S^tSfofi"?  •"^*«'-^*f  ^Sincerity  of  their  Religious  Faith^ 

b  V^JiSri^^  '"^  Massachusetts-i-Discouraged 

Prog^^l^'^LZ'^^^^'^'  Letter.^Pastor  Robinson's  Vie ws^ef, 
p3Z  for  ^tSf'^S'^-^"^''"'  °^  Congregational  Churghes.~No 
'    ■ -Sfof  WnrT  ~^'°T^^^^  ^""^  ^'^*'^«  Variations  in  Cweds. 

relS  to  P^-^°^r  °''^™P^^^-'''"P°««*Wlity  of  concealing  Truths 
relating  to  Rchgjon  from  an  educated  ^pulation.— Gain  to  the  H^hll 
C  a^es.  especially  the  Clergy.-New  TheologicaTcollege^.^lThe  Tower 
iZr      S-";^  ^•^°'«'^*'  discontented,  or  ii:religioL  by  EducatSn 
-Pecuhar  Stunulus  to  Popular  InstmcUon  in  the  uSt#  Statfs 

or  ^^^  r^^^  *?  ^  apprBhended  that,  in  k  pure  democ^y, 
or  where  the-suffrage  is  nearly  universal,  the  patronage  of  the 
state  would  be  ahnost  entirely  confined  to  providing  means  for 
mere  prmiary  education,  such  ^  reaaing,  writing,  and  ciplieriHg. 
But  such  IS  not  the  .case  in  Massachusetts,  although  the^annial- 
^nts  ihade  to  the  three  universities  of  Hkmrd,  Amherst,  and 
Williams,  are  now  becoming  inadequate  to  the  growing  wants 
ot  a  more  advanced  oomihunity,  and  strenuous  exertions  are 
making  to  enlarge,  them.     Iii  the  mean  time,' private  beqUests 
and  donations  have  of  late  years,  poured  in  upon  HalVaid  Uni- 
versity  fr^m  year  to  year,  gpme  of  them  on  a  truly  mimificent 
scale.     Smce  my  first  yisit  to  Cambridge,  professorships  of  hot- 
imy,  co|iparative  anatomy,  and  chemistry  have  been  founded 
Ihere.  was  previously  a  considerable  stafi*  for  the  t^hinir  of 
hterature,  law.  and  me4ioij^ ;  and  lately  ^i  entire  neW  depart- 
ment  for  engmeerinar,   natural  philosophy,   ohemiStiy,/U,Ly 
mineralogy,  and  natural  history,  in  their -applioation^o  ^e  alS 
has  been  mstituted.     One  ihdividual.  Mr,  Abbot^awrence,  a 
gentleman  still  m  the  prime  of  Ufe.  has  contribui^  no  less  a 
mm  thiin  inO,9QO  dollfti-,  aom^  guin^,)  towajTthe  support 


** 


■; 

. 

t        , 

1 

? 

^ 

f 

1.^  *     ^11+ 

:^ji*.,t.. 

:^'r- 

' 

168 


PATRONAGE  OF  SCIENCE. 


[Chap.  XII. 


of  this  departmemt.  One  of,  the  new  chairs  is  now  filled  by  a 
zoologist  of  the  -highest  European  reputation,  Professor  AgassiK 
A  splendid'  bequest  ald>,  of  equal  amount  (lOQ.OOO  dollars),  hlw 
recently  been  made  to  the  Cambridge  Observatory,  for  which  the 
country  had  already  obtaiW,'  at  great  cost,  a  l^ge  telescope, 
which  has  resolved  the  gW  nebula  in  Orion,  and  has  enabled 
the  astronomer,  Mr.  Bond,!  simultaneously  with  an  English  ob- 
server, Mr.  Las^ll,  to  disc^yer  a  new  satellite  of  Saturn. 

That  tl*i^  State,  hoWeveij,  will  not  be  checked  by  any  narrow 
utilitarian  viewsin  its  patrofcage  rfthe  univeraify  and  the  higher 
departments  of  literature  aikd  science,  we  may  confidently  infer 
from  the  grants  ma^  so  lonk  ago  as  'March,  1830,  by  the  frugal 
Legislature  of  Massachuset^  for  a  trigonometrical  survey,  and 
for  geological,  botanical,,  iind  zoological  explorations  of  the  coun- 
try, executed  by  men  whose  published  reports  prove  them  to  have 
been  worthy  of  the  trust.     It  was  to  be  expected  that  some  dem- 
agogues would  attetaapt  to  persuade  the  people  that  such  an  ex- 
penditure of  pubUc  money  was  profligate  in  the  eartreme,  and  that 
as  the  universities  have  a  dangerous  aristocratic  twidenfey,  so  these 
hberal  appropriations  of  fuAds  for  seientifio  objects  Were  an  evi- 
dence that  the  A^ig  party  were  willing  to  indulge  the  fancies 
of  the  few  at  the  charge  of  the  many.     Accordingly,  one  orator 
harangued  the  fishermen  of  Cape  Cod  tm,  this  t<^c,  saying  that 
the  government  had  paid  1500  doUais  out  a(  the  Treasury  to 
remunerate  Dr.  Storer— for  what  ?   for  giving  Latin  namoi  ta 
some  of  the  best  known  fiah ;  for  christening  the  common  cod " 
Morrhua  amertcana,  the  shad  Alosa  vulgaris,  and  the  fell  her. 
rmg  Chupea  vulgaris.     His  electioneering  tactics  did  not  suc- 
ceed ;  but  might  they  not  have  gained  him  many  votes  in  certain 
i-ngludi  constituencies  ?     Year  after  year,  subsequently  to  1837 
the  columns  of  -  the  leading  journal"  of  Great  Britain  were  filled 
with  attacks  m  precisely  the  same  style  of  low  and  ignorant  ridi- 
cule against,  the  British  Association,  and  the  memoirs  of  some  of 
the  ablest  writtos  in  Europe  on  natural,  history  and  science,  who 
were  assailed  with  vulgar  abuse.     Such  article,  would  not  hava 
been  repeated  so  perseveringly,  nor, have  found  an  echo  in  the   ' 
"  gntiah  Cniio"  and  ■>v«rtl  magarinet,  had  they  not  found  jpn- 


*>i* 


,*  I- 


W: 


XII. 


"^       "  yf''^^^f*-->'^-^^i^T-^^ 


Chap.  XII.] 


i* 


CHANNING  ON  MILTON. 


!  I 


^thy  ih  the  mrnda  of  a  large  class  of  readers,  who  ought,  by  their 
fitation,  to  have  been  less  prejudiced,  and  who.  in  redity.  have 
no  bigoted  aversion  to  science  itself,  but  simply  dread  the  ejects 
outs  disaenunatiQu  among  the  people  at  large, 
a  min^  f  "i«f  ^^*We  that  a  writer  of  such  genius  and  so  enlarged 
tit^H  »«  Chiming,  who  was  always  aiming  to  fornish  $he  mul- 
dWt  Tv.^'^"'^  improvement  and  recreation,  should  have 
thTll      ^^^«.«^  the  maportaat  part  which  natural  history  and 

^rfS  TT"  "^^^^  P^*^'  ^^^^"  ^^  *"*««  of  *he  million 
^  ^  in  \^        1,   ""  **"^^  "^  cultivation.     From  several  pa^sa- 

!^tH  .K      ,T^  V^  ^^*^*  **^**  ^  ^^  ««^«'  bee^  imbued 
w^th  the  slightest  knowledge  or  feeHng  for  such  pursuits;    and 

e2U  f  ^^  ^"^''  ^^  philosophical  dissertations  in  the 
E^hshaang..age.     Dr.  Jphnson.  while  he  had  paid  a  just  W 

^^e^^TT^'S^""'  ^  *^^  ^"^*  I««*  ^"^  *he  charms  of 
to  aLXt  1  "^  ^  part3^  feelings  and  bigotty  to  blind  him 
to  aU  that  was  pure  and  exalted  in  Milton's  character.  '  Chan- 

T^Ll  ^^r  T"^.'  ^^""^  r  ^^  J°^^'  ^*h  all  his 
strengUi  of  thought  and  reverence  for  virtue  and  religion,  his  viir* 
orous  logic,  ^d  practical  wisdom,  wanted  enthusiasm  and  lofty 
Z^f    L,  ^"^l  ^  P"^^"'  ^^^»^  him  in  the  unworthy 

i^ul^nT"""*"  t  ^'f^  ^^°^  ^^  ^^  «f  ^«  ^«t^d  most 
^tuons  of  men.  But  the  American  champion  of  the  illustrious 
bard  fads  to  remark  that  Milton  wa^  also  two  centuries  in  ad- 

shTl-  wuT*"'.'^i'^  ^'"^'  '"^  his  appreciation  of  the 
share  which  the  rtudy  of  nature  ought  to  hold  in  the  training  of 
the  youthful  mind.  Of  Milton's  scheme  for  enlarging  the^r^- 
nary  system  ottemking,  proposed  after  he  had  himseirheen  prac 
ticaUy  engaged  m  the  task  as  a  schoolmaster,  the  lexicographer 
spoke,  a.  might  have  been  anticipated,  in  .terms  of  dispar^ement 
bordering  on  contempt.  He  treated  Milton,  in  fact.^asl  mTe 
empme  ^^lonary  projector,  observing  that  .«it  was  his  pu,. 

ture  of  schools^  by  reading  thos<?  authors  that  treat  of  physical 


JTWHginaryj 


i 


nature,  and 


yUSi^'^u  J    *    '.  ,  ^1   tU^JJi. 


Sn"*-  -i  '* 


V^ 


■.  C,  ',x 


1S8 


PR.  JOHNSON. 


£Ohap.  XII. 


•oienoes  which  thaV  knowledge  requires,  are  not  the  great  or  the 
frequent  business  of  ^e  human  mind :  and  we  ought  not"  he 
adds,— tUfi^iJn  off  attention  from  life  to  nature,  as  if  we  were 
placed  hereiT)  watch  the  growth,  of  plants,  or  the  motions  of  the 
stars." 

That  a  violent  shook  had  been  given  in  the  sixteenth  century 
to  certain  time-honored  dogmas,  by  what  is  here  slightingly  called 
«•  watching  the  motions  of  the  stars,"  was  an  historical  fact  with 
which  Johnson  was  of  course  familiar ;  but  if  it  had  been  adduced 
to  prove  that  they  who  exercise  their  reasoning  po-virers,  in  intef- 
preting  the  great  book  of  nature,  are  consttntly  arriving  at  new 
truths,  and  occasionally  required  to  modify,  preconceived  opinions, 
or  that  when  habitually  engaged  in  suchifiscipline,  they  often  ac- 
quire independent  habits  of  thought, .  applicable  to  other  depart- 
ments of  Human  learning,  such  arguments  would  by  no  means 
have  propitiated  the  critic,  or  have  induced  him  to  moderate  his 
disapprobation  of  tiie  proposed  innovations.  In  the  mind  of  John- 
son there  was  a  leaning  to  superstition,  and  no  one  was  more  con- 
tent to  leave  the  pupil  to  tread  forever  in  beaten  paths,  and  to 
cherish  extreme  reverence  for i^ithority,  for  wich  end  the  whole 
system  then  in  vogue  in  the  English  schools  «^i  colleges  was  ad- 
mirably conceived.  For  it  confined  the  Studies  of  young  men,  up 
to  tiie  age  of  twenty-two,  as  far  as  possible  to  the  non-progressive 
departments'  of  knowledge,  to  the  ancient  models  of  classical  ex- 
cellence, whether  in  poetry  or  prose,  to  theological  treatises,  to 
the  history  ancl  philosophy  of  the  ancients  rather  than  the  mod-  ^^ 
erns,^  and  to  pure  mathematics  rather  than  their  application  to 
physics.  No  modern  writer  was  more  free  from  fear  of  inquiry, 
more  amuous  to  teach  the  millions  to  think  and  reason  fop  them- 
selves, ntf  one  ever  looked  forward  more  enthusiastically  to  the 
future  growth  and  development  of  the  human  inind,  than  Chan- 
ning.  If  his^own  education  had  not  been  cast  in  an  antique 
^^r  he  would  have  held  up  Milton  as  a  model  for  imitation, 
"  "^J^y  fo'  W*  lovo  of  classical  lore  add  poetry,  but  for  his  wish 
^pPiytite  a  knowledge  of  the  works  of  nature, 
certainly  no  people  ever  started  with  brighter  prospects  of 
■Jg'?j°g J'^*  P'P'PQtion  of  both  these  departments^  than  th^  pfmpl^ 


M 


almrn 


I      . 


Obap.XII.]  origin  of  PREl  (SfOHOOLS. 


^WWj,ofxheiruritan8  fir.t  emigrated  to  the  New  W^,we 


7TH 


i^Z  E-sJ-^d'tthi.- moment.     Of  the  free  «ho«I.  which 

for  chaldren  of  aU  «K,t,  and  rtation.  in  wciety.  they  feel  i„.X 

Su^^  t'::  *'  '°°'*  ""in"'!-  thing  whieh  Amerioa  hi  yet 
produced.  The  oai»e.  of  their  extraordinary  .ucoea  and  recJnt 
progre«,  well  de«rve  more  attention  thuT  they  ha«  tTZ 

t£  PuriL':^"LT  '»"^°"<""'  «»'  "  commonweal.rfounW  W 
of  nTirnlaT^'"  "f  »re  accu,to«ed  to  regard  a.  the  enemii 
°«ad  „  thf™  »f  "'»oe.  »l>ould  now  take  so  prominent  a 
lead  a.  the  patrons  of  both ;  or  that  a  aeot  which  was  k>  nrone 
to  bAhoIatry  that  they  took  their  pattern  and  m^"  VcM 

Mto  «fi,„  T      T7  "^^^^  ""''"'  "'■  Chnrch.and  State  ^  fa^ 
as  to  retuse  the  civil  franchise  to  all  who  we™  nnt ;«  fi.ii 

munion  with  their  Ghufch.  and  who  ^ZZZ  foVa^time  ZT 

nonKsonformists,  even  to  the  death,  should  nevertheless  ^r^t 

«.  example  to  the  world  of  religious  toleration,  and  "a™  b^ 

children  of  all  denomination»_Romi«mt,,Eii6testant,  and  Jew 

st  JnpeTuZ  r"^™  '  '"""'  «i:nr^ulia;  ZL^r 
stMnped  upon  ths  present  generation  of  New  Englanders  in 
«lat.on  to  religious  and  poUtical  affairs,  is  derived  dirTtlyanS 
iiidisputably  from  their  Puritan  ancestors,  let  them  refer  to  *e 

croHh:  fi^TT*'^  .^""""""^  *"  *«  oalcIJ:rof  B^t 
Tone  tW,5    f  f,""-;"  ,»*««"•  rf  New  England  are  the  parent. 

WiTh  n  4h1  fi  «/'"'''  ''"'''  '"P"'"*'""  °f  *''«'  U»ited  States. 
Withm4he  first  fifteen  year,  (and  there  never  wa.  afterward  anv  i  .  j 

considerable  mcrea«  f™.  EVland)  there  came  o^7^  2^0 
pe™„..  or  4000  familie..     Their  defendants,  he  s^yt  „l'Jt 

Yorl  anYoT  ^-.l"""  ""l".  »»d  they  have  carried,  to  C 
York  and  Ohio,  where  they  constitute  half  the  population  tZ 

SnrWh"'  ""  ""t"'  '''°''  '"^y  establStm    h 
^om»uted^T7°  "'"'"':"*'"  *»  P»P«lation  of  all  Entfand 


',    ; 


3^* 


y     V?'^, '«»5>l'*^^^5"  '*'^-m-^'^.,^jWW^U 


160 


FIfiST  PURITAN  SETTLERS. 


[Cbap.  XII. 


may  look  upon  the  present  deeoendfknts  of  the  first  colonists  «ia 
constituting  a  nation  hardly  inferior  in  numbers  to  what  England 
itself  was  only  two  centuries  before  our  times.  Th^  development, 
therefore,  of  the  present  inhabitants  from  a  small  original  stock 
has  been  so  r*pid,  and  the  intermediate  generations  so  few,  that 
we  must  be  quite  prepared  to  discover  jn  the  fomwiers  d"  the  colony 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  germ  of  all  the  wonderful  results 
which  have  since  so  rapidly  unfolded  theijQselves. 

Nor  is  this  difficult.  In  the  first  place,  before  the' great  civil 
wwr  broke  out  in  England,  when  the  principia  emigration  took 
place  to  Massachusetts,  the  Puritans  were  by  no  means  an  illit- 
erate or  uncultivated,  sect.  They  reckoned  in  their  raaiks  a 
con^derable  number  of  men  of  good  station  and  family,  who  had 
received  the  best  education  which  the  schools  and  universities 
then  afibrded.  ^me  of  the  most  influential  of  the  early  New 
England  divmes,  such  as  Cotton  Mather,  were  goodseholMs,  and 
hav«  left  writings  which  display  much  reading  and  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages.  Milton's  ««  Paradise 
Lost"  usually  accompanied  the  Bible  into  the  log-houses  of  the 
early  settlers,  and  ^th  the  "  Paradise  Lost"  the  minor  poems 
of  the  same  author  were  commonly  associated. 

The  Puritans  who  first  wentiiito  exUe,  aft«r  enduringimuch 
oppression  in  their  native  country,  were  men  who  were  ready  to 
bra.ve  the  wUdemess  rather  than  profess  doctrines  or  conform  to 
a  ritual  which  they  abhorred.  They  were  a  pure  and  conscien 
tious  body.  They  might  be  ignorant  or  fanatical,  but  they  were 
at  least  sincere,  and  no  hypocrites  had  as  yet  been  tempted  to 
join  them  for  the  sake  of  worldly  promotion,  as  happened  at  a 
later  period,  when  Puritanism  in  the  mother  country  had  become 
dominant  in  the  state.  Full  of  faith,  and  believing  that  their 
jrehgious  tenets  must  be  strengthened  by  free  investigation,  they 
held  thq.t  the  study  and  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures  should 
not  be  the  monopoly  of  a  particular  order  of  men,  but  that  every 
layman  woa  beund  to  search  them  for  himself.  Hence  they  were 
anxious  to  have  all  their  children  taught  to  read.  So  early  as 
the  year  1647,  they  instituted  common  schools,  the  law  declaring 
"  that  all  the  brethren  shaU  teach  their  chUdren  and  apprentiocg 


'X53^jr? 


161 


^^^^gmg  fiOHOOLS  EARLY  FOUNDED. 

to  read,  and  that  evety  i^wnahip  of  fifty  hou«eholde«,  «>,«ii 
point  one  to  teach  all  thechildr^"*         ^^"^^oWew  shaU  ap- 

colI;V^5l":^  ^^^^^^  ^^  -  the  contemporary 

years  later.  Sir  William  nZ-  ,       ^"S-    Even  fifteen  or  twenty 

for  nearly  (Xv^T.^        ^'  "'\''^  S""""  "^  ^'-^i* 
«**ijr  iony  years,  and  was  one  of  the  hfiat  nf  ♦!,«  -  i     •  i 

rule«.  .poke  thns.  in  the  fnU  rinoerity  of  LlL^  rf  ht 

we  .^^.  Wetl-^rh'^^iS^trlfiK-^?-' 

•nent.     God  keep  m  fiom  both  "t  ^°'''"' 

■■  the  bert  of  ^vemmenta  "  «Tf""°^  f  '  ^^^^^  didike  to 

the  Stuarts  ;'^??f T^  time  tl^""^  *!  ^f ""'  ""«'■»»  "^    , 

ing  uniformiV  rf  rdi^ous  oZ»^L     ™''°''  '"'^  "^  P'^"'    ( 
would  not  oonfnr™  .;  T-  P^"    •      ^  °™''  Pef^eouted  some  who 

;^»  they  iaUed  to  oar^tltfo  ^It'^  ^'^'  ""'' 

».ef  irMni^ts'^tos^rthfr "  i*-  '-^'-^ 

in^^ginia^and  noV^tli»rfl"  ^0"^^:^^^ 
*  Bancroft,  vol.  j.  p.  45^. 


■rcnaimer3,  oIteJ^«ham,  H&t.  of  U.  ft,  tol.  i.  p.  m. 


•4* 


^V;.  ..  it"*' 


ie2 


PROGRESS  IN  RELIGION. 


[Ohap.  XII. 


1'^ 


With  no  less  than  five  printing-offices,  a  fact  which  reflects  the 
more  crpdit  on  the  Puritans,  because  at  the  same  period  (1724) 
there  were  no  less  than  thirty-four  counties  in  the  mother  country 
Lancashire  being  one  of  the  number,  in  which  there  was  no 
pnnter.* 

'W\ma.  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  were  about  to  sail  in  the  May- 
flower  from  Leyden,  a  solemn  fast  was  held  before  they  embarked, 
and  their  pastor,  Robinson,  gave  them  a  farewell  address,  in 

which  these  memorable  words  are  recorded  : *• 

"  I  'charge  you,  before  God  and  his  blessed  angels,  that  you 

follow  me  no  further  than  you  have  seen  me  foUow  the  Lord 

Jesus  Christ.     The  Lord  has  more  truth  yet  to  break  forth  out 

01  his  h6ly  word.     For  my  part,  I  can  not  sufliciently  bewail 

the  condition  of  the  reformed  churches,  who  are  come  to  a  period 

in  rehgion,  and  wUl  go  at  present  no  further  than  the  instruments 

ot  their  first  reforpiation.     The  Lutherans  can  not  be  drawn  to 

go  beyond  what  Luther  saw.     Whatever  part  of  His  will  <m 

good  God  has  imparted  and  revealed  unto  Calvin,  they  will  die 

rather  than  embrace  it.     And  the  Calvinists,  you  see,  stick  fast 

where  they  were  left  by  that  great  man  of  God,  who  yet  saw  not 

all  thmgs.     This  is  a  misery  much  to  be  lamented  ;  for,  though 

they  were  burning  and  shinina  lights  in  their  times,  y^t  they 

penetrated  not  into  the  whole  counsel  of  God:  bat,  Wefib  they 

now  living,  they  would  be  as  wiUing  to  embrace  furth^^  m 

that  which  they  first  received.     I  bteseech  you  to  rerti^Bs  ■it ; 

It  18  an  article  of  your  church-covenant,  that  you  will  be^ifv% 

receive  whatever  truth  shall  be  made  known  unto  you  from  tS. 

.written  word  of  God.     Remember  that  and  every  other  articte" 

of  your  most  sacred  covenant"  # 

It  inay  be  said  that  the  spirit  of  progress,  the  belief  in  the 
future  discovery  of  new  truths,  and  the  expansion  of  Christianity, 
which  breathes  through  every  passage  of  this  memorable  dis- 
course, did  not  characterize  the  New  England  Independents  any 
more  than  the  members  of  other  sects.  Like  the  rest,  tbey  had 
embodied  their  interpretations  of  Scripture  in  certain  fixed  and 
delimte  propositions,  and  were  but  little  disposed  to  cherish  thd 
*  Macanlay,  Hif^tory.  of  FngTan%.i^^^  %mr^  ^tw  yiefaofa. 


*^ 


'^'^i/k/mA 


!  1 1. 


HtaM 


^yyfi 


( 


Ohap.  Xn.]  NO  PENALTIES  FOR  DISSENT. 


1  li, 


193 


iiiifii 


doctnne  of  the  ^adual  development  of  Chmtianity.  The  Roman- 
wta  had  stopped  short  at  the  council  of  Trent,  when  the  decrees 

lfhl«  Pn  TTu"^  '"''"  '^''^"^^  ^y  ^^^  «^«^*i««  of  an  infal. 
loflcTf  1  "  ""T^''  ^°'*  ^^"'y  Protestant  church  has 
acted  as  rf  religion  ceased  to  be  progressive  at  the  precise  moment 
d^time  when  their  own  articles  of  behef  were  diawn  up,  X 
much  dispute  and  difference  of  opinion.      /  ^     ^ 

fo  ^V}^  ^f  ^*'  inculcated  by  Pastor  Robinson  were  deUvered 
to  a  body  of  men  whose  form  of  ecclesiastical  polity  was  verv" 
P.CU liar;  who  held  that^ congregation,  each^parare^e'e^ 
^fellow-worshipers.  cJia^thin  themselves  a  perfect  and 
^d^pendent  church,  .^fep^  ^as  to  compose  for  itself  ^ 
moddy  at  ^asure  its  *I^M^ptural  interp^tation.     In  col 

ZTlJ^l'^"""-  '^r^^^^  law  of  New  Englandlad 
luled.  that  the  majonty  ofThe  pew-holders  in  each  chu'ch  should 
Wtain^  their  property  in  a  meeting-house,  and  any  endowment 
belonging  to  it.  whatever  new  opinions  they  might,  in  the  course 
of  time  choose  to  adopt,     In  other  words,  if;  in  the  lapse  of  ages, 
theyjhould  deviate  from  the  original  standard  of  faith,  they 
i*ould  not  suffer  the  nsuaa  penalties  of  dissent,  by  being  dispos- 
med  of  the^^difice  in  which  they  were  accus^m^cHcTlaJZ 
or  of  any  endo*mi6nts  given  or  bequeathed  for  a  school-house  or 
the  support  of  a  pastor,  but  should  continue  to  hold  them :  the 
mmority  who  still  held  fast  to  the  original  tenets  of  the  sect     ' 
having  to  seek  a  new  place  of  worship,  but  being  allowed  to 
dispose  of  their' pews,  as  of  every  other  jigiold,  if  purchasers 
could  be  found.  "^^  • 

Every  year  in  some  parts  of  New  England,  where  the  popu- 

lation  IS  on  the  increase,  the  manner  in  which  some  one  of  tiiese 

new  congregations  staffs  into  existence  may  be  seen      A  few 

individuals,  twenty  jJerhaps.  are  in  the  habit  of  meeting  together 

on  the  Sabbath  ma  private  dwelling,  or  in  the  school-house 

^  already  built  for  the  chUdren  of  all  denominations  in  the  new 

.    callage.     One  of  the  number  offers  a  prayer,  another  reatfs  I 

^^^v'i^     '  ^'S''  ^"""^  ^  printed  sermon,  and  perhaps  a 

as  TB^iflotillatfcn  Increases,  they  begin  to  think  oObrimng  tliem- 


'■'i^xiwjr-  «'n«s'|^!«f ' 


164 


CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCHES.  [Ohab.  XH- 


selves  into  a  church,  and  settling  a  minister.  But  first  they 
have  to  agree  upon  some  creed  or  covenant  which  is  to  be  the 
basis  of  their  union.  In  drawing  up,  this  creed  they  are  usually 
assisted  by  some  neighboring  minister,  and  it  is  then  submitted 
for  approbation  to  a  meeting  of  all  the  church  mwnbers,  and 
18  thoroughly  discussed  and  altered  till  it  suits  the  peculiar  and 
prevaihng  shades  of  opinion  of  the  assembly.  When  at  length 
It  18  assented  to,  it  is  submitted  to  a  council  of  neighborihg 
mimsters,  who  examine  into  its  scriptural  basis,  and  who,  accord- 
ing as  they  approve  qi;  disapprove  of  it,  give  or  withhold  "  the 
handoffeUowship." 

The  next  step  is  to  elect  a  pa«tor.  After  hearing  several 
cs^didates  preach,  they  invite  one  to  remain  with  them ;  and, 
after  he  has  been  ordained  by  the  neighboring  ministers,  agree 
on  the  salary  to  be  ^sured  to  him,  for  the  collection  of  which 
certam  members  .become  responsible.  It  rarely  exceeds  700 
dollars,  and  more  Usually  amounts  in  rural  districts  to  500  dol- 
^lars,  or  100  guineas  annually. 

By  the  Congregationalists,  a  chufch'  is  defined  to  be  a  com- 
pany of  pious  persons,  who  .voluntarily  unite  together  for  the 
wprship  of  God.     Each  company  being  self-created,  is  entirely 
independent  of  every  other,  has  the  ^wer  to  elect  its  own  offi- 
cers, and  to  admit  or  exclude  members.    Each  professes  to  regard 
creeds  and  confessions  of  faith  simply  as  convenient  guides  in  the 
examination  of  candidates,  not  standards  of  religious  truth     They 
may  be  the  opinions  of  good  and  wise  men,  venerable  by  thefr 
antiquity,  but  of  no  binding  authority,  and  are  to  be  raeasvred 
in.  each^sepfirate  church  by  their  confcrmity  with  Scripture  '  As 
to  the  union  of  difierent  churches,  it  is  purely  voluntary,  and  has 
been  compared  to  a  congress  of  ^ereign  states,  having  oeftain 
general  m^rests'  in  cpmmon,  but  entiifely  independent  of  each 
other.     Ther^  no  articles  of  union ;  but  if  any  old  or  daew 
society  IS  thou^  to  %part  so  widely  fix)m  the  other  churches 
that  they  can  Sio  longeir  be  recognized  as  Christiaaf,  the  rest 
Withhold  or  withdraw^j^eir  fellowship. 

Upon  the  whole,  tl  separate  congregational  ehurches,  both 
jj^Qld  and  New  England,  ja  all  ftljove  aOOCUa^ 


& 


ii.'i,i.iflj..:<i^ 


;  Ij^Jr^Vri 


..C       It^^i, 


'-."■'s.'a'-fyy  ■^^fV^^s^  r'^  1 


■        '    "      ■         .  'It 

1<5 


ClUf.  XH.]  CONGEEGATIONAL  OHDBOHBS. 


hdd,  together  more  firmly  for  two  centnrie^  and  have  deviated 
&r  le«  from  the  ongmal  .tandard  of  faith,  than  mieht  ha™ 
been  expected ;  although  in  Ma»aehu»etta  and  ™n,e  ne^^bS 
State,  more  than  a  hundred  meeting-hon»..  «>me  of  them  h^ 
ng  endowment,  belonging  to  them,  have  in  the  cour«"f°tli 
l«t  for^  year,  been  quietly  transferred,  by  the  maiority  of  the 
pew.hol^„,  to  what  may  be  »id  to  conltute  neT  dllilt 

kZi^  V.  ^  ™"'^/  '«k~  P'«<»  "h"*'  new  mini,ter  U 
inducted.  Thi.  .ystem  of  ecclesMtical  polii  i.  pecnliarlv  re- 
pu^ant  to  tte  idea,  entoruined  by  ohnrcta^en  in  gf^^S  whi 
effort.  ,„  ahnort  mvariably  directed,  whether  in  Proto^mH 
Romam.t  commumfe..  to  inculcate  a  deep  «„«  of  the  guilt  of 

pemdt.e..nd  ^mturi  ottlawry.  The  original  contract  i^u.ua7 
«^Cw,  T  '""""'"°''  "^^  ""P™  »«■«.  like  otherbranck, 
of  leavmg  the  mmd  unfettered  and  free  to  etobrace  «.d  pr6fe« 

«orAs  of  C«d  are  the  .ubjeot.  of  investigation,  every  precaution  >. 
taken  to  prevent  donbt,  fluctuation,  and  change  It  i,  even 
«eenj.d  ju«,fi.ble  to  exact  early  vow.  and  pledge.  agaiLt  Ih" 

I^Ta     T"  »na  much  reading,  catch  glim^  of  truth, 

"riling  Z^Jr,"!"  "'•^  >••;■"«"«»  *«  church,  nor  to  the 
f«  enllt^t  1  *v  *?"'''"  "'^  ""«'"»•  '«'  provision  i,  made 
^  T^Ta   .""  *°  ''""^  "'•°~'  "  "P'-ly  *»  1«'=1»«'  that  he 

S  ^    ^r       '"*  *'«"""■  ""*  "ft"-  with  dctitution. 
di^Tlfc  .  '"**""'^  "^  '"'  ^""^  "^  by  any  mean,  to 

dimmid,  m  modem  time,  with  the  multiplication  of  new  «ote 

Mtabhriiment.  a.  m  tho«  e.tablid,me„'t.  them.elTe..     Wedev 
far  example,  took  the  utmct  care  that  every  Methodirt  chaS 

^Lf^:r.h°LS'J:!;  ^?,'°  ^.  '^^:  if  .ny  P.rtic,.l.r 


"A 


cougtegati^  .hould  dev^t.  lr»;  liZ  l^ZZ  rf'grZ 


,'A.,.- 


^   ^JiSjhLS&LS^ 


-pj*.  - 


4-' 


•  >-^r!»-"i*"^4''^*^f  y^-f'ff'^'*"a'rt;' 


'*'f,'^^t^^W^ 


166 


FUTJJEE  VARIATIOr^  IN  GBBBDS. 


[Chap.  XII. 


1    ■  .  ■  ■■ 

rfiould  return  to  the  Church  of  E^igland,  whose  doctrines  they 
had  never  renounced.     But  the  most  signal  instance  of  a  fixed 
determination  to  prevent  any  one  congregation  from  changing  its 
imnd  m  regard  to  any  dogma  or  rite,  until  all  the  others  associat- 
ed with  It  are  ready  to  move  on  in  the  same  direction,  has  been 
.     exemplified  in  our  times  by  the  Free  Kirk  of  Scotland.     More 
than  a  million  of  the^population  suddenly  deserted  the  old  estab- 
lishment, and  were  compelled  to  abandon  hundreds  of  ecclesiasti- 
oal  buildings,  in  which  they  had  worshiped  from  their  childhood. 
Some  of  these  edifices  remained  useless  for  a  -time,  locked  up 
.     and^no  service  ^performed  in  them,  because  the  minister  and 
•nearly  all  the  parishioners  had  joined  in  the  secession.     It  wa» 
necessary  for  the  separatists  to  erect  700  or  800  new  edifices 
'        and  school-houses,   on  which,  they  expended   several   hundred 
thousknd  pounds,  having  often  W  smaU  diflicul^  to  obtain  new 
sites  for  churches,  so  that  their  ministers  preached  for  a  time 
like  the  Covenanters  of  old,  in  the  open  air.     It  was  under  these 
circumstances,  and  at  the  moment  of  submitting  to  such  sacrifices- 
that  their  new  ecclesiastical  oi^anization  was  completed,  provid- 
i^  that  if  any  one  of  several  hundred  congregations  should  here- 
after  deviate,  m  ever  so  slight  a  degree,  from  any  one  of  the 
numerous  articles  of  faith  drawn  up  nearly  three  centuries  ago 
under  the  sanction  of  John  Knox,  or  from  any  one  of  the  rules  and 
forms  of  church  government  then  enacted,  they  should  be  dispos- 
sessed of  the  newly  erected  building,  and  all  funds  thereunto 
belonging.      Had  any  other  contract  been  proposed,  implying  the 
possibihty  of  any  future  change  or  improvement  in  doctrine  or 
ceremony,  not  a  farthing  would  have  been  contributed  by  these 
zealous  Presbyterians ;  nor  have  they  acted  inconsistently  inas- 
much  as  they  are  fully  peftoaded  that  they  neither  participate  in 
an  onward;or*backMfard  movement,  but  are  simply  revertinir  to 
that  pure  and  perfect  standard  of  orthodoxy  of  the  middle  of  the 
•ixteenth  century,  from  which  others  have  so  sinfully  departed 

It  IS  only  m  times  comparatively  modern,  that  the  opinion  has' 
gamt^  ground  in  Europe,  and  very  reooiitly  in  Scotland,  that  in  " 
*•    the^settlement  of  landed  property  thire  should  be  sorao  limitation 
ol  the  pow<tf  of  the  dead  over  the  living,  and  that  a  leit>t^r^n 


.'•.     i 


^A.jLj_J..., 


r'^^j^'^S'i^^'''W0^^ 


Oki,.  Xri]        nmiHE  VAmATlWMLjN  ceebds. 


W7' 

hi 't  ^  •'J*''  •""''  forwight  «.  ,to  enable  him  to  know 

w^U.?  "J"^*  T""-  ""*  •"•«'»*  •»  ^h"*  conditionTuI 
wealth  may^be  be.t  dirtpbnted  among  hi.  defendant.  «Ye«I 

M  large.  Whether,  m  ecclewastioal  matter.,  alw,  there  .honld 
not  be  »me  mean,  provided  of  breaking  the  eMul  ^i^Z  rZ^ 
u.g  .0  what  i.  termed,  in  Scotland  "  a*di.mptiot"^  tha   Z^ 

b^S  ^t^'-X^-V"™-'-™  -"an/cenLie;  old,  .hoU^t 
be  yuited  with  pecuniary  lone,  or  diwrace—whether  it  be  «» 
P«d.ent  to  aUow  the  B«mani.t  or  CalLi.t,  till Iw^e^b.^^" 
or  .Sociman.  and  every  other  K^ary  to  enforce,  by  the  Xk 
power  of  the  wealth  he  may  bequeaTh^  po.terity,  the  tJu  ^ 

iaige-part  of  the  population  on  whom  he  originallv  bettowM  ki. 
rjche.  have  altered^ir  mind.,  are  point.  o^tSeTaT^n^al 
change  ha,  been  taking  place  in  the  oVmion.  of  not  «  fe^onhe 
h«her  cl,«e,  at  lea.t.^.Of  thi.  no  one  will  douta  who  rem«n 

i-awiament  in  1844,»  and  Ae  .peechMof  eminent  .tatemien  of 
ophite  politic  when  the  Di«e„ter.'  Chapel  BUI  wa.  diZZ 

r?.  ^.frfv'  1,"°*  *'  '*'*''^  "P^o"  of  many  of  the  mo.t 
thoughtful  of  the  New  Englander.,  that  the  a«erfon  of"he 
independence  of  each  «parate  congregation,  wa.  a.  gi^t  a  .ten 
toward  fieedom  of  con«ience  »  all  that  had  I^^vLudv 
gamed  by  Luther'.  Reformation ;  an^it  co„.titute.  one  of  S 
cha^cterKtic  of  church  jrovemment^n  New  EngC  w^r 
whether  approved  of  .r  not,  ,an  not  with  projirietTrlrS 

f;J  r.-T^'^T'  •"  *"""'  °"'  *»"'  ■»«oe.  bf  the  lovfof  pi 
g«»,  which  ha.  taken  «.  .trong  a  hold  of  the  pubjio  mind  in  New 
ingland,  and  which  ha.  „  much  faciUtatal  their  plan  of  nLlI^ 
education.  To  .how  how  widely  ( the  firit  of"th"ir  CZr 
eccle«..teal  .y.,em  ha.  .pread,  i  ma/  ...te  that  e™l^ 
Roman  Catfu,l«»  hare,  i„  different  .tate,,  «id  in  three Tfcm 
c.«.  (one  of  which  i.  .till  pending,  in  IsisJl^TJlJ^ 
to  the  couru  of  law,  and  endeavored  to  avail  them.elv«  X 
•  Oe.  Ih.  U.b»tt,.  ™  7  J,  J  vi„,.^  ,^  ^,  ^  ^  ,g^^_ 


•1 


JUUK_ 


S^U,*'jli 


■'•^ 


168 


CONGREGATIONAL  POLITT; 


[OpAP.  XII. 


prinpiple  of  the  Independents,. «p  tkat  the'  majority  bf  a  sepafate 
congregation  should  be  entitled  to  resist  the  appointment  by  their 
bishop  of  a  priest  to  whom  they  had  strong  obj^ti^s.  Th« 
^  oourln  eOem  hitherto  to  have  determined  that,  as  thb  building 
belonged  to  tjw  majority  of  the  pew-holders,  they  i^iight  deal 
with  it^  ^thcy  pleased;  but  they  hav6  declined  to  pronounce 
•  any  opinion  on  points  of  ecclesiastical  discipline^ '  leaving  the 
members  of  each  sect  free,  in  this  respect,  to  ob^y  the  dictates 
of  their  own  conscience.  v 

But  to  exemplify  the  more  regular  working  of,  the  congrega- 
tional  polity  within  its  own  legitiiliate  sphere,  I  wiU  mention  a 
recent  case  which  oame  more  home/to  my  own  scientific  pursuits. 
A.  young  man  of  superior  talent,  with  whom  I  was  acquainted, 
who  was  employed  as  a  geologist  in  the  state  survey  of  Pennsyl- 
vania,  was  desirous  of  becoming  a  minister  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  that  state  ;.  but,  when  examined*  previous  to  ordina- 
tion, he  was  ui^able  to  give  satisfactory  answers  to  questions 
respecting  the  pleiiary  inspiration  of  Scripture,  because  he  c^n^ 
sidered  such  a  tenet,  when  applied  to  th% first  book-  of  Gene-, 
sis,  inconsistent  with  discoveries  now  universally  admitted,  re- 
Bpocting  thia  high  antiquity  of  the  earth,  and  the  existence  of 
living  beings  on^he  globe,  long  anterior  to  man.     The  rcjjected 
candidate,  ♦hose  orthodoxy  on  all  other  points  was  fully  >admitted, 
was  then  invited  by  an  Independent  congregation  in  ^^^^n- 
gland,  to  become  their  pastor ;  and  when  he  accepted  the  oflier, 
the  other  associated  churches  were  called  upon' to  decide  whether 
thevwould  assist  in  ordainingone  who  claimed  the  right  to  teach 
freely  his  own  views  on  the  question  at  issue.     The  right  of  the 
congregation  to  elect  him.  whether  the  other  .churches  approved 
of  the  doctrine  or  not,  was  conceded  ;  and  a  strong  inclination  is 
always  evinced,  by  the  afliliated  societies,  to  come,  if  possible,  to 
an  amicable  understanding.     Accordingly,  a  discussion  ensued, 
and  is  perhaps  still  going  on,  whether,  consistently  with  a  fair 
interpretation  of  Scripture,  or  with  what  is  essential  to  the  faith 
of  a  Chrktian,  the  doctrine  of  complete  and  immediate  inspiration 
may  or  may  not  be  left  as  an  open  question. 

Some  of  my  readers  may  perhaps  exclaim  that  this  incid^l; 


A:*b       - 

r 

/^  m^f. 

■  ^rf' 

,  •'  ♦  - 

-^^\'    ^  !,>-•«' -!i|!| 


.^   OHUROHMEN  ON  PHJSICAL  SCIENCE. 


KID 

•  paw  ti>»t  the  Congregationalirt,  of  New  EngUnd  are  fiit  behinrf 
n«»j,  orthodox  divine,  of  theChuroh  of  E^land",  eve^  tSf 
Chu»h  of  Eome.,a,  Aown  by  Dr.  Wi»i„Js  lectures  i^  th^" 

ment  of  the  true  theory  of'^wtronomy  .atiriied  the  ProteeUnt 

Vorli.  .t   ea.t.  th,t  the  Bible  wa.  never  intended  .i.W  «^at^ 

r^f  phyacal  «,enee.     No  doubt  it  i,  m„.t  true.  thT^    h! 

:  >"*  forty  y""  many  dietingnished  writers  and  dignitariS?f  the 

•  En^sh  Church  have  expre^ed  their  beUefvery  o~nly  i^  lard ' 
to  the.  earth  Wi,mty,  and  the  leading  truft,  SShTbv 
geology.     ..  The  Record,  of  Creation,"  pablished  in  18 18  bv  tb^ 

<ne  present  Jjean  ot  Westnunster  ^Dr  Biiplr1>in/i\  *u^-^  r  xi. 
^  Dean  of  Llandaff(Dr.  C;«y beare).  iS  of  tSf  ^^^^"Vi^ 
fe«or  of  Cambridge  (11,^  Rev.  A.  S*dgwiok),  and  otC  mSS 
Jjt  adduced  m  confirmation.  AU  of  L»/l„deed  h.^V'"^^ 
e»d_  by  the  firat  teacher,  of  geology  in  America,  e.p;dally  inTe 
"Orthodox  umver»ti«"„fNe*  England,  a,  c^unLmlg  he 
adoptjon  of  the.r  new  theorie,  ;  and  I  have  oiien  heard  ^.'^ntmo 
men  m  Amenca  exprc  their  gratitude  to  the  English  Churlh" 
men  for  the  protection  which  their  high  authority  ifforded  TC 

ZTtlrr  .T""'^  *'/  ■=""""  "«»»«nt,'when  m 4  rf 
fte  State  LeguJature.  were  deUb«pating  whether  they  .hould  or 
dbould,  not  appropnate  large  sum.  of  the  public  money  to  the  p,^ 
faot^on  of  geological  -.urvey,.     The  point,  however    under  d^" 

k  Hart*""  ?7'^''*'-»««t  ChunS;  to  whicy  havTflLeX 
W  m  reality  a  different  one,  and  of  the  utmost  iAtance  •  for  U 
fcno  1".  than  to  dg^ine,  not  whether  a  mim^„:;  ^uS^sk 
boolnroressaysN  declaratory  of  hi.  own  individual  views'  wsZt 
mg  the  beamg  of  physical  science  on  certain  pirt^^rof^I 
tu»,  but  whether  he  may,  |gfrout  Reproach  orcharge  ofS 
oreuon    fieely  yd  candidly  expound  to  ,Jtofhom  h"addrJ^  ' 
neh  and  poor,  ffom  the  pulpit,  tho«  trulKn  which  few  0 
mformed  men  now  any  -longer  entertain  a  doubt.     Until  3 
permjssion  be  fairly  granted,  the  initiated  may,  a.  we  JlCf. 

W  r„       ?w  ""^,'"""«  ™*  '"^-  ^^^0  *«  multitude  hold^ 
to  to  anothe.',  and  looks  with  «.ni.inn  uri  di.M»,t  ou  th.  yil 


f 


.vols.  I.— H 


.4" 


V 


^.^\, 


% 


f 


170 


<A 


"vsnir^ 


."*a 


BIBLICAL  d 


?TROVERSY. 


(Ohap.  XIL 

:  losopher  whi^eienredly  mak«i  known  the  moet  legitimate  da- 
ductions  from^ts. ,    Suchrin  trutl^  irthe  present  condi     '^' 
things  thronghont  Cftri8tendon|pthe  miUiona  being  lei 
Bame  darkness  respecting  the  ai&quity  of  the  globe,  and 
cessiw^  races  of -animals  a^  plaib  which  inhabitediit 
creaUoneof  mah,  as.  they  Were  M^he  ra^  aeM^'  ox  ' 
eaoh^w  gene^n  bi^r  allo%to  gr,^  ^  \i 
from -Genesis,  i^as  directly  hostile- B^the  i^llMsionslt^ 

^^^W^  ^  ^**°  ^*^®  ^^^^^^  thsf iltth^s  ^^Siography 
™ere^fee  multitude,  but  many1)f -aitMe  who  gge  <|^^  "^ 

•  ^!ffl™l|lH^^P  ga2e"wi:them  as  yi: 

?"r  i'*?lPRfiHBllM^'«  dr© 

hi»ton(B«l«ali]        - —«»»«*™  ».*.».     ,u»>,  ,^  . 


The  exteiiit 


Dona  parentis 

imagine  g'atxdet." 

in  Protestant  countries,  and  wl 


•X 


;»  «■  fi.     •  ^  j*5t-    .  .  ^  ~~  — ;-~— ««..  uv/uubiica,  ifcuu  wmni  there 

18  a^  P*^opuuc«pi  umversally  entertained  by  thriigher 

VAT^.'^t^^  "^"^  ^^^"^  ^  P'^*  »»d  niay  yet  j^ain 

i^.vti!°  T.°^f  "  completely  as  if  they  we>e  sMj  in 

^   J^S^  ^fP."»# .  "  such  as  no  one  antecedently  to  expenifinqa 

no  m^^  cpnfined  to  Uie  domaiii  of  physical  «,ienoe.  I  may  «rito 
a.  onft  remarkable  example  the  dotation  of  the  spuriornLure 
of  the  celebrated  yerse  in  the  First  ilpisUo  of  John,  chap  v  ^Z 

t^A°*"*^:^*^'  ^^^^  Heavenly  Witnes^s."^LuW 
M^^^tion  which|5i«  published  of  the  BiWe,  had  e^un^ 
this  passage  as  spimous ;  l)ut.  shortly  after  his  death  it  was  wu 
Sta^lf  ''"^T'^  <^e^e-ce  tJpopular  pre^t^sioTaS 
New^stLT  ;.  ^'''^'^'  omitted  it  in  his  "editions  of  the 
W  €^^^  '''  ^^  7^  me^d  16i9  r  and  after  it  had 
been  eji^uded  by  several  other  eminent  critics.  Sir  Isaac  Na^ 

against  the  genuineness  of  t^Hfterse.     Finally.  Por^^^^pbd; 


in  1788  and  1790.  hi.  f«|f|itrtters.  by  which  the 


/ 


%i 


1'^ 


■  I'/fr'n  WiM'iiit-'i^MRli  ■feilVT'i.iStK  Jfl^  -1  H 


^ 


n 


<> 


^!^^^i'm^^f\'"'^n^mw'^s '" 


""^"'■l  BIBLICAL  CONTROVEMV. 


Ifl 

ST'u^w'*  '^•.    ^*  *"  odBritted  th»t  in  iU  tie  Greek  M8<»" 

honn.)  jL  *u    J  ■  -         ^"*  Pontiff  refused;  beMtue  he  mu    • 

bound  by  the  decreet  of  the  Comoa  of  Trent   md  ofTrh..TI? 
pretending  to  infallibilitv    whinli  h.j  .„i       i  .   ChnroI^  • 

Vulgate.  Ind  the  C  J^  hiS  L  ^j'^j^^  ""'f™''  *^* 

Pnrii«»'.  1  **     '  ,>'^""  -urturgy  m   1801,   ■ev«ral<^  yean   kAav 


> 


4  > 


■H 


7 


"  tillmoi,  n«»^ia  14Z^ 

^  .«-w«w>ra,  ftolestwMii  of  ev«rjr  dwwmiiutioii  hare 


ftd^ 


1WT' 


•,^JS!  i^ 


m 


■  I  >  I  ■ 


HOGARTH'S  ELECTION  FEAST.  [Chap.  XII. 


rj"- 


g)ne  on  year  after  year  distributing  hundreds  of  thousaiids  ^f 
Jiibles,  not  only  without  striking  out  this  repudiated  verse,  but 
without  even  affixing  to  it  any  mark  or  annotation  to  show  the 
multitude  that  it  is  given  up  by  every  one  who  has  the  least 
pretension  to  scholarship  and  candor. 

"  Let  Truth,  stern  arbitress  of  all, 
Interpret  that  original, 

And  for  presumptuous  wrongs  atone ; 

'  Authentic  words  be  given,  or  none  1" 

it  is  from  no  want  of  entire  sympathy  ^otE  the  sentiment 
.  e^^ressed  m  these  lines  of  Wordsworth,  and  written  by  him  on 
a  blank  leaf  of  Macpherson's  Ossian,  that  Uterary  or  scientific 
men,  whether  Protestant  or  Catholic,  European  or  American, 
clergy  or  laity, ^bstain  in  general  from  communicating  the  results 
rt  their  scientific  or  biblical  researches  to  the  miUion,  still  less 
•  ^"i/^y  »PP'f^«»«io*i  that  the  essential  truths  of  Christianity 
would  sufier  the  slightest  injury,  were  tbe  new  views  to  be 
muversally  known.     They  hesitate,  partly  from  false  notions  of 
expediency,  and  partly  through  fear  of  the  prejudices  of  the  vulgar 
Theydarp  not  speak  out,  for  the  same  reason  that  the  civil  and 
eccle^^tical  rulers  of  England    halted  for  one  hundred  and 
seventy  years  before  they  had  courage  to  adopt  the  reform  in  the 
Juhan  calendar,  which  Gregory  XIIL.  in  accordance  with  astro- 
nonucal  observations,  had  effected  in  1582.    ,  ^  ^ 

Hogarth,  in  his  picture  of  the  Election  Wast,  has  introducea 
a  banner  carried  by  one  of  the  crowd,  on  ^hich  was  inscribed 
t^otto,  "Give  us^back  our  eleven  days,'^fbr  he  remembered 
when  the  angry  mob.  Irritated  by  the  innovation  of  the  new 
Btyle.  went  screaining  these  words  through  the  streets  of  London 
In  hke  manner,  the  acknowledged  antiquity  of  Egyptian  civili 
mtion,  or  of  the  solid  framework  of  the Vobe.  with^its  mol 
Zr^  r"^.^""**^"*  ''*^"'  of  living  beings,  might,  if  suddenL 

tW^'f  iT-'^rrl:  P^Pl^'  '^i^'  "  angry  a  demand  to  gil 
%m  b.^  their  old  chronology.  Hence  arises  a  habit  of  ^! 
c«khng  from  the  unlettered  public  discoveries  Which  might,  it  is 

™?»f^'/S?v''  *^'°''  "^^  "^"^«  '^'^  ^^^  °Pinion^.     This    " 
method  of  deahng  with  the  moni  mcvf^  of  subjects,  martharte- 


M' 


^'^^  ^  i.a.iJi^fe^i-i -1.^ 


»*== 


Chap.  XII.  1 


LAY  TEACHERS. 


1  V 


in 


illustrated :— A  few  tares  have  grown  up  among  the  wheat  • 
you  must  not  pull  them  up,  or  you  will  loosen  the  soil  and  expos^ 
the  roots  of  the  good  grain,  and  then  aU  may  wither :  moreover 
you  must  go  on  sowing  the  seeds  of  the  same  tares  in  the  mind 
of  the  rising  generation,  for  you  can  not  open  the  eyes  of  the 
children  without  undeceiving  and  alarming  their  parents.     Now 
the  perpetuation  of  error  among  the  many,  is  only  one  part  of 
the  mischief  of  this  want  of  good  faith,  for  it  is  also  an  abandon- 
ment hy  the  few  of  the  high  ground  on  which  their  religion 
ought  to  stand,  namely,  its  truth.     It  accustoms  the  teacher  to 
regard  his  religion  in  its  relation  to  the  mUlions  as  a  mere  piece 
of  machinery,  hke  a  police,  for  preserving  order,  or  enabling  one 
class  oi  men  to  govern  another. 

If  such  a  state  of  things  be  unsound  and  unsatisfactory,  it  is 
not  so  much  the  clergy  who  are  to  blame  as  the  laity :  for  lav- 
men  have  more  freedom  of  action,  and  can  with  less  sacrifice  of 
personal  interests  take  the  initiative  in  a  reform.     The  cure  of 
the  evil  IS  obvious ;  it  consists  in  giving  such  instructlh  to  the 
people  at  large  as  would  make  conceahnent  impossible      ww^ 
ever  w  know^  and  intelligible  to  ordinary  capacities  in  scK 
especiaUy  if  contrary  to  the  first  and  natural  impressions  deri^" 
able  from  the  hteral  meaning,  or  ordinary  acceptation  of  the  text 
of  Scripture,  whether  in  astronomy,  geology,  or  any  other  depa/t- 
ment  of  knowledge,  should  be  freely  communicated  to  a]l.     liay  " 
teachers,  not  professionally  devoted  and  pledged  to  propagate  ^ 
opinions  of  particular  sects,  will  do  this  much  more  freely  than 
eccl^iMics,  and.  as  a  matter  of  course,  in  proportion  as  t^^ 
standard  of  public  instruction  is  raised ;  and  no  o^Sm^^ea 
would  be  such  gainers  by  the  measure  as  the  clergyriPLlv 
:  the  most  able  and  upright  a^nong  them.     Every  normal^^hool 
every  advance  made  in  the  social  and  intellectual  position/of  the 
lay  teachers,  tends  to  emanoipato,  not  the  masses  alone,  but  m 
more  effectually  their  spiritual  guides,  and  would  increase  tfieir 
Ji8efulng|in  a  tenfold  degree.      That  a  clergy  may  be  weU 
iniori8«,r  the  age  they  live  in,  and  may  contain  amdng  them 
,^^y^g°iy^  ,y d^  meiu,  wbikL  tha  jieople  romain  in  da,k>— 

ness.   Wft    knnw   fiv.m    u:»* .    r._   x»_.        •  ..      ,    . 


ness.  we  know  from  history ;  for  the  spiritual  instructors  may 


^i.h.1. 


;>■■ 


w»: 


***^ 


174 


PAY  OF  CLBBOr. 


[Ohaf.  xa. 


WMh  to  keep  the  multitude  in  ignoianoe,  with  a  view  of  main- 
^^  *''r„°"!;.P°'^?J.AtPyt  ~  «ducat«l  people  wiU  ever 
^^hU  '.f  •  '""j2MiiS«y  Pri"*obd.  That  thi.  i. 
u»p««ble  the  e=cp^«|Wlit  quarter  of  a  oentury  in 
New  England  ha.,  Jj^  proved.  In  confirmation  of  thi.  tmth. 
1  may  appeal  to  th*?rogre«  made  b»,the  minUten  of  the  Meth- 
^..t^dBaptitohurehesofUtefear..  Their  mi^ienarie. 
tound  the  Congrigationahst.  alumberiM|^|B|lhe  seouritv  of  an  ' 
^  e.tabh,hmea.,  andsoon  r^iXStS^^Z 

Sr^  *^I  r^  i^'^'y  ^^  '^"^  *™^«'  emigrant*, 
iney  w>re^fl»e  to  send  more  preachers  into  tlie  vineyard,  he- 

^Z^t'^'i?"™*  f*  ^  ""™'y  »"y  preparation  or  other 
qual.ficat|o,^an  zeal.     But  no  s«,ner  had  the  children  of  the  - 

tf  ,01  hZ,f  t  If  i^"%*"r""  "*•?<*«'  *i*  contempt 
vea«  .57»'','»»'f««g*..  found  it  necMsary  to  Jtudy  for  «,mo 
years  m  theologic^  semmanes,  and  aJtead  cou%s  of  chuMh 
hutory,  the  Greek,  Latin,  Hebrew,  and  GermaiXguaBL  li 

Sv  f^  tf^:  ^'"'  B"?*"*  ^'flog'  «t  Newton  h«a 
S,\t  St     '*^/™<»W  others,  and  that  of  th*  Meth- 

ha™  tltl^h  f  ■?,  '^'^^*'n  '  *•""•  "»•  dependent** 

have  their  tibeologxcal  college  at  Anlier  in  Mas«chusettV  which 

oistonces,  and  of  many  («forenyfenomi««tionl.     ' 

Ihe  large  collections  .FBook.  on  divinity  which  are  now  seen 
m  ^e  hbrane.  of  NewEj|I|md  ole«^.  »*«.  almeat  unknown 
a  quarter,^  a  century  agol^'r        "  £     '>^   "Uuiown 

New  ^Und  has  mcreased.     About  tltflMlc  of  the  fc' 

3o<,o-j3o«htiirx*„:  Sr-nt'tiarinr  ^ 


i- 


>r 


# 


n^.^;»9^    ^L     1  , ■     """*"  ""  »»ttouDi;  mat,  m  pro- 

I^^^/«Jhe  lay  teachers  are  more"  liberally  remunerated,  the 
»cale  l>f  income  required  to  command  the  services  of  men  nf 


)^A.  '^ 


A 

" 


Ohaf.  XII.] 


M- 


POPUEAR  IN8TBU0TI0N. 


Ifft 


first-rate  talent  in  the  clerical  profewion,   miwt  and  will  ha 
raised. 

Already  there  are  many  indications  in  Mawachusettg  that  a 
demand  for  higher  qualifications  in  men  educated  for  the  pulpit 
ui  spnngmg  up.     It  is  no  bad  augury  to  hear  a  minister  exhort 
hi»  younger  brethren  at  their  oidination  not  to  stand  in  awe  of 
their  congregations,  but  to  remember  they  have  before  them  sin- 
lul  men  who  are  to  be  warned,  not  critics  who  are  to  be  propi- 
tiated.    « Formerly,"   said   Channing,   « Felix  trembled  before 
Faul ;  It  IS  now  the  successor  of , Paul  who  trembles  :"— a  saying 
which,  coming  as  it  did  from  a  powerful  and  successful  preacher, 
implies  that  the  peopl|  are  awaking,  not  that  they  are  growing 
indifferent  about  religious  matters,  but  that  the  day  of  soporific 
discourses,  fuU  of  empty  declamation  or  unmeaning  common- 
places, 18  drawing  to  a  close.  t 

It  will  be  asked,  however,  even  by  some  who  are  favorable  to 
popular  education,  whether  the  masses  can  have  leisure  to  profit 
^  after  Jife  by  such  a  style  of  teaching  as  the  government  of 
Massachtisetts  is  now  ambitious  of  affording  to  the  youth  of  the 
eou^try,  between  the  ages  of  four  and  fourteen.     To  this  I  may 
answer,  that  in  nations  less  prosperous  and  progressive  it  is  ascer- 
***""      that  men  may  provide  for  aU  their  bodily  wants,  may  feed 
othe  themselves,  and  yet  give  up  one-seventh  part  of  their 
«*fvery  Sabbath,  to  their  religious  duties.     That  their  re- 
hgiott  should  consist  not  merely  in  the  cultivation  of  a  devotional 
spirit  toward  their  Maker,  but  also  in  acquiring  pure  and  lofty 
con(ieptions  of  his  attribute*— a  knowledge  (fjhe  power  and 
wisdom  displayed  in  his  works—an  acquaintan^^h  his  moral 
laws— a  just  sense  of  their  own  responsibiUty.fiH&^xercise  of 
their  understandings  in  appreciating  the  evidelKof  their  faith, 
few  of  my  readers  wUl  deny.     To  insure  the  accomplishment  of 
thas%  objects,  a  preparatory  education  in  good  schools  is  indis- 
pens^le.     It  is  not  enough  to  build  churches  and  cathedrals  to 
endo#  universities  or  theological  colleges,  or  to  devote  a  large 
portion  of  the  natioqal  revenues  to  enable  a  body  of  spiritual  in- 
structors to  discharge,  among  other  ecclesiastical  duties,  that  ot 
proachiBg^-good  wmma  from  the  pnlpit    ^tlieir  seermay lall~" 


■t 


ft 

f 


•i 


^>,  Meb^^ 


:.^.  >.:ii^!: 


ffi^$^'"' 


/■-•/Jf-     ff?P 


irp, 


176 


-r>- 


POPULAR  INSTRUCTION. 


(Chap.  XII. 


on  a  sod  naturaUy  fertile,  but  wiU  perish  if  th^  has  been  no 
previous  culture  of  the  ground.  At  the  ei^  of  seventy  yeara^ 
men  of  good  natural  abiUties,  who  have  befein  attentive  to  th<^ 
religious  observances,  have  given  up  ten  entire  years  of  their  life, 
a  period  thrice  as  long  as  is  required  for  an  academical  course 
of  study,  and  at  the  close  of  such  a  career  may,  as  we  know,  be 
Ignorant,  sensual,  and  superstitious,  and  have  little  love  or  taste 
for  things  intellectual  or  spiritual. 

But  granting  that  time  and  leisure  may  be  found,  it  will  still 
be  asked  whether,  if  men  of  the  humblest  condition  be  taught  to 
enjoy  the  poems  of  Milton  and  Gray,  the  romances  of  Scott,  or 
lectures  on  Uterature,  astronomy,  and  botany,  or  if  they  read  a 
daUy  newspaper  and  often  indulge  in  the  stirring  excitement  of 
party  politics,  they  will  be  contented  with  their  situation  in  life 
and  subimt  to  hard  labor.     AU  apprehension  of  such  con8equen<Se^ 
18  rapidly  disappeanng  in  the  more  advanced  states  of  the  Artieri- 
can  Umon.     It  is  acknowledged  by  the  rich  that,  where  the  free 
schools  have  been  most  improved,  the  people  are  least  addicted 
to  intemperance,  are  more  provident,  have  more  respect  for  prop- 
erty and  the  laws,  are  more  conservative,  and  less  led  away  by 
sociahst  or  other  revolutionary  doctrines.     So  far  from  indolence 
being  the  characteristic  of  the  laboring  classes,  where  they  are 
best  informed,  the  New  Englanders  are  rather  too  much  given  to 
overwork  both  body  and   brain.     They  make  better  pioneers, 
when  roughing  it  in  a  log-house  in  the  backwoods,  than  the  un- 
educated Highlander  or  Irishman ;    and    the  factory  girls   of 
-Lowell    who  publish  their   "Offering,"   containing  their  own 
original  poems  and  essays,  work  twelve  hours  a  day,  and  have 
not  yet  petitioned  for  a  ten-hour  bill. 

In  speculating  on  the  probability  of  the  other  states  in  the 
north,  south,  and  west,  some  of  them  differing  greatly  in  the  de- 
gree of  their  social  advancement,  and  many  of  them  retarded  by 
negro  slavery,  adopting  readily  the  example  set  them  by  the 
New  Enganders,  and  estabUshing  free  and  normal  schools,  I 
iind  that  American  enthusiasts  build  their  hopes  chiefly  on  that 
powerful  stimulus  which  they  say  is  offered  by  their  institutions 
tor  popular  edu^ation—a  stimulus  such  as  was  never  experienced 


'^    * 


Ohaf.  XII.], 


POPULAR  INSTRUCTION. 


m^ 


before  in  any  country  m  the  world.     Thia  conriats  not  so  much 
m  the  absence  of  pauperism,  or  in  the  individual  libeiW  enjoyed 
by  every  one  in  cml  and  religious  rights,  but  in  the  absence  of 
tile  influence  of  femdy  and&rtune-^he  fair  field  of  competition, 
freely  open  to  aU  who  aspire,  however  humble,  to  rise  ^ne  day 
.  to  high  employments.  ^especiaUy  to  offiei^  ,>t  professional  post^ 
.^hether  lay  or  ecclesiastical.  civU  «  ftiiiitary,  requiring  early 
cultivation.     Few  wiU  reaUze  their  ambitions   kngingf;  S 
y  eve^  parent  feels  it  a^duly  to  provide  that  his  child  Zuld  not 
be  shut  out  from  all  chance  of  winning  some  one  of  the  numerous 
pnzes,  which  are  awarded  solely  on  the  ground  of  personal  quali- 
fications.  not  always  to  the  most  worthy,  but  at  Idast  without 
any  regard  to  birth  or  hereditary  wealth.     It  seems  difficult  to 
foresee  the  limit  of  taxation  which  a  populatigu,  usually  very  in- 
tolerant  of  direct  taxes,  wiU  not  impose  on  themselves  to  secure 
an  object  m  which  they  have  all  so  great  a  stake,  nor  does  any 
serious  obstacle  or  influence  seem  likely  to  oppose  their  will 

hn^r  V  ^^  '*^*^' J°'  '''^"'P^''  any  dominant  ecclesiastical 
body  sufficiently  powerful  to  th^wart  the  maxims  of  those  states- 
rnen  who  maintam  that,  as  th|  people  are  determined  to  govern 
themselves,  they  must  be  carefiiUy  taught  and  fitted  for  self 

ZnTT  *T?  T^"  "^'"^^  instruction  in  common  schools 
open  to  all.  The  Rornan  Catholic  priests,  it  is  true,  in  the  state 
^f  New  York,  where  there  are  now  11.000  schools  in  a  popula- 
toon  of  two  millions  and  a  half,  have  made  some  vigorous  efforts 
to^^et  the  exclusive  management  of  a  portion  of  the  school  funds 
mto  their  own  hands,  and  one  at  least,  of  the  Protestant  sects 
has  openly  avowed  its  sympathy -in  the  movement.  But  they 
have  failed  frcmi  the  extreme  difficulty  of  o^aYiizing  a  combined 
effort,  where  the  leaders  of  a  great  variety  of  rival  denoSSna 
are  jealous  of  one^gther ;  and,  fortunately,  the  clergy  are  be- 
aming more  anjy^coiivinced  that,  where  the  education  of 

^i^^^^^^^^^^  '^^P^l«  ^"^  most  regular 
m  their  attendaiioe  on-public  worship,  most  zealous  in  the  de- 

ZTf    A    r  *^"°^^^°^  °Pi^«««.  and  most  liberal  in  ^ontribut- 
luLlu'lf         ^^°  ^"PP°^  ^^  ^^^  P^"  ^  the  building  of 


■A 


-.-* 


M 


M' 


H* 


■/. 


:/^gf^^~>,^r^,^  ^Ji^'^Tit^KV^  ^■?/*^^ 


■w^'gfir'  -^  "^^-y^  •=37*^^'"'?^  ^  fi^^ 


■  U  .  .1 


CHAPTER  XJiJI. 

Leaving  Bostonfor.theSouthN-Railway  Stove.— FaU  of  Sapw.^New  Haven 
and  Visit  to  Professor  SiUiman-New  York.-ImpLemeJ  bTe 
City.--Croton  Waterworks— Fountains.— Recent  Conflagratioii;-r-New 
Churche..-Trmity  Ch«^ch.-New8  from  Europe  of  Con^to  Ro;S.- 
Reaction  against  Trac^rians.— Electric  Telegraph,  its  ProoreM  In 
America-Morse  and  Wheatstone.-l  1,000  Schools  in  New  Y6rk  Ibf 
Secular  Instruction.— A|,sence  of  Smoke.— Irish  Voten.— Nativism. 

Dec.  3.  1845 — ^Having  resolved  to  deyote  the  next  six  montlif 
of,  my  stay  m  America  to  a  geological  exploration  of  ^hose  partt 
^f  the  country  which  I  had  not  yet  visited,  I  left  Boston  just  a. 
the  cold  weather , was  setting^^  to  spend  the  winter  in  the  south. 
The  thermbmeter  had  faUen  to  23°  F.,  anS.  on  our  way  td  ths 
cars  we  saw  skaters  on.  the  ice  in  the  common.  Sc^jn  after  we 
started,  heavy  snow  began  to  faU,  but  in  spite  of  the  storm  we 
were  carried  to  Springfield,  1  Oa  miles;  in  five  hours.  We  p^' 
a  luggage  tram  with  tweiity-two  loaded  cars,  iplling  past  us  in 
the  opposite  direction,  on  f  00  wheels,  including  thofe^of  the  enirine 

much  frdin  cold  m  wmter.  Here,  the  stov«  in  the  center  of  tlie 
long  ommbus  is  *  great  luxury,  and  I  saw.  one  toavelw  after  in. 
other  leave  his  seat,  walk  up  to  it  and  warm  his  &t  on  the  fend* 


:?:!  A^"  ***f  ^"¥.  ^*'®?'  *  gentl^inan' gave JH  the  Prtsident's 

lw^xpre««,  h^,  for 


speech  to  read,  v^ch,  by  means  of  a  raib 
the  first  tii5pe,,>een  brought  from  Washingt^  t^  BMtr«r470 
miles,  m  one  day.  Id  was  read  with  interest,  as  all  were- 
speculating  c«  the  probability  of  a  war  with  EngUiid  abouf^ 
Oregon.  While  I  was  mdulging  my  thoughts  on  the  rapid 
oommumcatipn  of  intelligence  by  newspapers  and  the  speed  vid 
safety  of  railway  traveling,  a  fellow-passenger  interrupt*!  W 
pleasing  reveries  by  telling  me  I  was  standing  too  war  the  iroft. 
stove,  which  had  scotched  my  /clolhes  and  burnt  a  hole  in  my 
yreat  coat,  and  immediaU»ly  afterward  I  learnt  at  Sprih^eld,  that 


A, 


4 :'  k  «'.f       », 


^ 


l» 


A* 


lf"'^ 

.' 

H' 

%, 

>    *• 

■^ 

**../ 

V 

1 

. 

« 

%" 

« 

1  . 

( 


Chap.  Xni.].      VISIXtO  PEOFESSOI^  SIl^HftiAN. 


I-  f 


/* 


179 


\ 


iis   ■if 


i 


the  can  on  the  Ime  between  that  town  imd'  AlWy,  where  there 
IS  only  one  track,  -had  run  against  a  luggage  train  near  ChesteB. 
and  many  paS9enger8  were  injured.     Some  say  that  two  werQ  * 

•  kiUed.     According  to  others,  one  of  the  trains  was  five  minutes  , 
before  its  timej   but  our  informant  took  my  thoughts  back  to 
England  and  English  naxratives  of  the  like  catastrophes  by  say-^ 
m,  '♦  It.has  been  ascertained  that  no  one  ^as  to  blame."     We 
had  no  reason.^  boast  of  our  speed  the  next  day,  M  ^e  were 
twelve  hours  m  going  «i3tty-two  miles  to  New  Haven.    The  delay 
was  paused  by  icS  on  the  rail,  and  by  our  having  to  wait  to  let  / 
the  Ne^,Torit^am  pass  us,  there  being  pnly  one  line  of  rail./ 
A  storm  in  the  Sound  had  occasimied  the  New  Y.^k  cars  to  be 
five  hours  behind  tj^ir-time.     We  saw  many  sleighs  dashing* 

•  P'^^.f"^^  ''r'Tll^^  '^^-     It  ™  lato  before  we  reached  the 
hospitable  houle  ^f  Professor  Silliman,  who  with  his  son  gave  me 

many  valuable  instrudtions  for  my  southern  tour.     Their  letters 

ot  introduction,  however,  though  most  useful,  were  a  smaU  part 
.  of  the  service  they  did  me  both  in  this  tour  and  during  my  former 
-  tisit  to  America.     Eyery  where,  even  in  the  ^tes  most  remote 

fn»m  New  Englawd.  I  met  with  men  who,  having  been  the  pupils 
,.^ol  Professor  SiUiman.  a^d  having  listened  to  his  lectures  when  at 

col^e,  ha4  mvariaWy  imbited  a  love  for  natural  history  «uid 
■  physical  science.  ^,  A      '  » 

"  V  ^t^r^  J^oinmg,  wh^h  we^Wbarked  in  the  stealer'  for  Ne4  ' 
^      York,  I  was  amused  at  the  different  aspect  of  the  New  Haven 
'*,   scenery  firom  thai  whicjl  t  iBotembeied  in  the  autumn  of  1841. 
The  East  Rock  wm  now  covered  wiUi  snoW»»  al^  but  the  bold 
lJ.^ipice  of  cplumpw  bwalt.   ^he  tjrees.  several  of  which,  espe- 
oially  Uie  wiUows,  still  tetain^many  of  their  leaves,  Were  bent 
dpwnj^eneath  a  weight  of  ice.     I  never  saw  so  brillMnt  it  sfiec- 
l  tacle  of  the  kind,  for  e^ery  bough  of  the  4arge  droopii^ilms  and 
;  ,^  the  SraaUest  twigs  of  everv  tr^  and  Arub  were  hung^h  trans-  "^ 
>  ■  p^ent  icicles,  ivhitfh.  in  (he  bright  sunriiine.  refl««5ted  the  pris-   4 

matio  eplor*  like  the  cut-^^p  of  a  chandelier.    A.  we  sailed       ;       , 

•    ^ut  of  the  harbor,  which  was  enrwded  with  vessels,  we  |aw  aU  ^ 

.the  ropes  of  their  riggings  simi&rly. adorned  with  crystals  of  :^r        k  ■ 


ft 


# 


y 


> 


■^ 


^ 


'^i^ 


t.. 


'A'^^ 


:^,,i' 


li' 


pyfuppppjiipi^p, 


f^^cs*- 


*■■; 


180 


-UL 


■  * 

*tjROTO»  WATBEWOEKS.  '     [Chm.  Xlil. 


^und  a  dirtance  of  ninety  miles,  to  New  York.     It  is  only  three 
.     ^  «noe,«e  were  last  in  thi,  city,  yet  in  thi.  short  int^  ^^ 
»»  .mprovements  equaling  i,  importance  the  increase  of  tie 
^palatoon  which  now^amounts  in  round  numbers  to  440,000 

nected  wifli  ,t  by  a  ferry,  together  with  Williamsburg  79  000 
^ong  oU,er  novelties  since  1841,  we  observe  with  plLsu,;  the 

waterworks  finer  than  any  which  I  remember  to  have  seen  in 
the  center  pf  a  city  since  I  was  Iwt  in  Rome.     Two  orSem 

more  th«^  thirty  feet  high,  one  opposite  the  City  Hall  and  an. 
other  m  Hud«n  Square ;  but  I  am  told  that  whin  we  «tonl 
the  summer  ^  shall  see  many  other,  in  action.     A  wS^ore 

htr  "ot'Zf  T"  ^*''*  "■""'""  ""»  "'"»■'"'  Koman  Auedu  U 
has  not  been  achieved  m  our  times;  the  water  having  been 
brought  from  the  Croton  river,  a  distance  of  about  foi^^m^ 

the  city  IS  said  to  have  already  gained  by  greater  cleanliness  and 
more  whde«,me  water  for  drinking ;  and  I  hear  from  an  "S 
physician  that  statistical  tables  show  that  oa««  of  infantine  cZer. 
and  some^other  complaints  have  sen«bly  lessened.    The  water  Z' 

The  r.^^ If  '^''*  "t  ornamental  fountains  in  private  gard^ 
Th,  rate  of  msurance  for  fire  ha.  been  lowered ;  and  I  oouWrt 

.every  pond  i.  covered  with  ice,  how  much  more  security  the  oi^ 

^L  T.  ,     i     *  ™  '""''  •  ""*  of  *»««'  to  supply  the 

engines.      Only  five  months  ago  rJulv   19th    iaAn\       ^T 

destructive  fire  broke  out  nea^thi  Ste^"';„d  tt^Tw:.' 

::ZT7:::^s::t^  -f  the  croten^water.  .^tmi:" 

expioMon  ot  «iltpeter  killed  many  of  the  firemen,  and  scattered 

p.odedeh.cktir.rer.pSr.^n-'''ira 


.  C 


Chap.  XHI.] 


•"Bin 


)     t 


ftU 


NBW  OHDBOHES. 


Ml 

.moking    there  being  a  nnoldering  heat  in  cellar,' iUled  with 
"drygood,  "    When  the  citizen,  of  London  rejected  the  Z^m  •- 
f:^  !?'??  f\^^f^-'  Wren  protK«ed  foriu  re,tor^?te 
declared  that  they  had  not  de«rved  a£e,  but  the  New  Y»ke«' 

n  wa.  the  bu,me«  part  of  the  city  which  the  flam«  mZ 

ture ,  but  already,  before  the  adie,  haye  dope  Mnoking  we  ^ 

entm,  rtrect,  of  ,ub,tantial  ho„«,  which  have  ri,e„  to   hlir  f^ 

height    and  the  ground  ha. ,  been  rai«d  five  feet  hfgher  th» 

.fbrmerly  above  the  river,  «,„  to  iecure  it  from  Sat«^ 

which  fia,  „  enhanced  it.  value,  that  many  of  theri^lre 

have  «,ld  for  price,  equal  to  the  value  of  the  .buUdiCwS 

once  covered  them.     Among  the  new  edifice,,  we  weT  ZZ 

~me  which  are  fire-proof     Unfortunately,  maky  .  fiaftrS  W 

been  burned,  and  they  are  itill  .tanding  ^ithout^Arir  b^A  b" 

the  weepmg  willow,  bordering' the  river  on  the  :^tte^  k.^* 

ewaped  unsinged.  "anory  nave 

«.  I^V^u  r^  '"°?'r?  "^  *^"  "'y  ""  «»  "»«'«1  fin*  church- 
«,  «.me  bmlt  from  tfie.r  foundation,,  other,  finidied  ,ince  184? 

The  wooden  ,p,re,  of  wvcral  are  elegant,  and  »  «,Ud,  a.  to  have 
^  the  outward  effect  of  .tone.  l!rhe,two  moat  con^icnon.  of 
rL'"'Z  'flt°"r  *"  ?P'«"'P»li»».  ■3'"»ity  and  Grace  Church. 

from  the  ren  of  houje.  m  JJew  York,  bequeathed  long  ,i„„e  to 
^Ep.«opal  Church,     The  exp.^,*,  i.  «id  to  ha™  equ.W 

wtflr?«"'^™7'''*V'^'^'***«'*y-  It  Lentil 
tint  Th!'  1  rr^r"  r!^'™"  "^  "  '«'«»'''e  Ught-brown 
tint.     The  top  of  the  .teeprem  289  feet  from  the  g«tt*d.     Th» 

ban.  may  now  boaat  that  of  all  the  e«le.i.rtioaI  edifice,  of  thi. 
oontment,  they  have  ,rect«l  the  mo.t  beautiful.  It.,po.ition  . 
~^m.rably  «ho«n,  a.  it  fon™  .  prominent  feature  inB^adway 
^f"Tf^  ^.  "d  in  Mother  direction  look,  down  Wali: 
ilreet,  tfce  great  center  of  city  buBne...  ft  h  tbei«fore  M«ri 
jrom  great  (fa^WMe.  m  tha  atroo.phere,<o  beautifully  Aeu  .v«n 


at  Uiia 


•OMuU,  wluui  wefy  jtev.  „  %Jit^iSriSi^r^ 


# 


,  f 


o»,'       * 


'M 


'X^\ 


'.    >7* 


IIS 


TBINITY  OHUEOH. 


■♦-i" 


[Chap.  XIII. 


V  .  nuOTieter  has  fWlen  twenty  degrees  belpw  the  freewng  poiat. 

Where  there  is  so  much  bright  sunshiue  »nd  »o  smoke,  wi  ajchi- 
tect  may  well  be  inspired  with  ambition/conscious  that  the  effect 
of  every  pijlar  and  oth^i-^OTawnen.t  will  lie  My  brought  out  with 
^  their  true  lights  and  shadesy  The  style  of  the  exterior  of  Trinity 

Church  reminds  us  of  mr^  of  our  old  Cathie  churches  in  Lin- 
cohislare  and  Northamptpnshire.  The  interior  is  in  equally  good 
taste,  the  middle  aisle  sixty-five  feet  high,  but  the  clustered 
columns  will  not  have  so  stately  an  appearance,  nor  display 
their  true  proportions  when  the  wooden  pew»  have  been  intro- 
duced  round  their  base.  An  atten^pt  Ws  made  to  dispense 
»>•  witWthese;  but  the  measure  could  neilby  carried ;  in  fact,  much 

ftS  we  m»y  admire  the  architectural  beauty  of  such  a  cathedral, 
'  one  can  not  but  feel  that  such  edifices  were  planned  by  the 
genius  of  other  ages,  and  adapted  to  a  difibrent  form  of  worship. 
When  the  fi?rty-five  windows  of  painted  glass  are  finished,  and 
the  white-robed  choristers  are  singing  the  Cathedral  service,  to 
be  performed  here  daily,  and  when  the  noble  o^gan  peals  forth 
Its  swelling  notes  to  the  ^arched  roof,  the  whole  service  will 
remind  us  of  the  days  of  Romanism,  rather  than  seem  suitable 
to  the  wants  of  a  Protestant  congregation.     It  is  not  th«  fimn 
of  buUding  best  fitted  for  instructing  a  large  audience.    To  mak^ 
the  whole  in  keeping,  we  ought  to  throw  down  the  pews,  and  kt 
processions  of  priests  in  their  robes  of  crimson,  embroidered  with 
\         gold,  preceded  by  boys  swinging  censers,  and  followed  by  a  crowd 
-        of  admiring  devotees,  sweep  through  the  spacious  nave. 

That  the  whole  pomp  and  splendor  of  the  ancient  ceremonial 
will  graduaUy  be  restored,  with  no  small  portisa  of  its  kindred 
dogmas,  is  a  speculation  in  whiijfa  some  are  said  to  bd  aotuaUy 
indulging  their  thoughts,  and  is  by  no  means  so  visionary  an  idea 
as  half  a  century  ago  it  might  have  been  thought,  jb  tie  dio- 
j  eese  o£  New  York,  the  party  wh^ch  has  adopted  iim  rimm  mm- 
I  inonly  caUed  Puseyite,  appears  to  have  gone  greater  leo^thi 
i  I  «*»  "»  any  part  of  England.  )  the  n«wiq)^ers  puWuihed  in 
^  various  parts  of  the  Union  bear  Wifljjony  to  «  inAs  extenam  «# 
tiia  him  Movement.  We  r<«d,  fi»  d5mpl|^  a  ^teapMt  ei  a 
fcnh*^  yfao  h—  owtored  the  nvojirmg  readinir-4aA  of  a  ourata  to 

! — 


'P 


t- 


Ti 


Chai..  xiir.] 


CONTBETS  TO  RO^B. 


183 


be  nailed  to  the  i^ll,  thkt  lie  might  be  unable  te  turn  vith  it 
toward  the  aJtar.     The  ofieiiding  clergyman  ha.  yeaigned  for  the 
Ijake  of  peace,  and  part  of  hi.  congregation  ig^pathiaang  in  hig 
^dwg  have  rai^  for  him  a  gum  of  6000  doUars.     In  another 
.  p^per  I  see  a  letter  of  remonstrance  from  a  bisiiop  to  an  Episco- 
pal clergyman,  for  attending  Vespers  in  sL  Eomanist  church,  and 
ior  \cro88lng  himself  with  holy  wmr  as  he  entered.     The  epistle 
fim^es  with  an  inquiry  if  it  be  true  that  he  had  purchased 
.  sevei^al  copies  of  the  Ursuline  Manual  for  young  persons.     The 
clergi^man,  in  reply,  complains  of  this  petty  and  annoying  inqui- 
sition into  his  private  affairs,  openly  avows  that  he  is  earnestly 
examining  into  the    history,   chjjiracter,  claims,  doctrines,  and 
us^e.*  ofv  the  Church  of  Rome,  lind  desirous  of  becoming  practi- 
cally acquainted  with  their  forms  of  Wor#p— that  wheii  present 
tojt  thi*  purpose  he  had  thought  it  right  to  conform  to  the  usage 
of  the  <5C>ngregation,  &o, 

It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  anecdotes,  and  advert  to  contro- 
versial pamphlets,  with  which  the  press  ig  teeming,  in  proof  of 
the  lively  interest  now  taken  in  simfar  ebclesiastical  questions, 
so  that  the  reader  may  conceive  the  senaation  ju«t  created  here 
by  a  piece  of  inteUigehce  which  reached  New  York  ^e  very  day 
of  our  arrival,  and  is  now  going  the  round  of  the  .newspapers, 
namely,  the  conversion  to  the  Romish  <:!hurch  .of  the  Rev  Mr  # 
Newman,  of  Oxford.      Some  of  his  greatest  admirers  aw  put  to 
oonfusioa  ^  others  are  rejoioing  in  the  hop  that  the  event  may 
prove  a  warning  to  many  who  have  departed  from  the  spirit  of 
the  Reformation  ;  and  a  third  party,  who  gav^  no  credit  f<»  sin- 
cerity to  the  leaders  of  a  hiovement  which  they  regarded  ag 
retrograae,  and  ^ho  stUl  suepee^  that  they  who  have  joined  in  it 
here  are  actuated  by'wwldly  motives,  are  confessing  that  they 
did  injustice  to  the  great  Oxfoid  tractarian.     One  of  them  re- 
maiked  to-me,  "  We  are  often  told  from  the  pulpit  here  that  we 
live  m  an  age  of  skeptieism,  and  that  it  is  the  tendency  of  our 
twneg  to  believe  teo  little  rather  than  too  much;  and  yet  Protest 
antg  of  superior  talent  are  now  reidy  to  make  these  great  gaerf- 
fioes  for  the  sake  of  leturning  to  the  faithof  Rome  I"     I  might 
h»vo  wipUttd,  ihat  iwjuun  lewai  to  ba  atawit  «g  BMaOi  »  priaei- 


-.-,?■ 


«;".A.> 


" .  "n  ■  " 


11     '* 


r 


\ 


184 


r^*" 


THB  BLEOTRIO  TELEGRAPH.  IOha*.  XIII. 


"K.:.  » 


j^  of  the  moral  as  of  the  material  world,  and  that  we  know, 
from  .the  poBthumooa  writings  of  one  who  had  Hved  on  intimate 
terms  with  the  origrmators  of  the  Tractarian  movement  in  Oxford, 
that  a  recoU  from  doubts  derived  from  the  study  of  the  German 
ratumahstt,  led  direptly  to  their  departure  in  an  opposite  direc- 
tion.    «  They  flm^  themselves,"  says  Blanco  White,  writing  in 
1837,  "qn  a  phantom  which  they  caUed  Church.     Their  plan 
wa.  to  stop  all  inquiry,"  and  "to  restore  popery,  excluding  the 
Poj*    *     Meanwhile,  the  attempt  to  revive  the  credulity  of  the 
ie  ages,  and  to  resuscitate  a  belief  in  all  th^  miracles  of 
'^  "^**'  ^"  P'oducedi  as  might  naturall?'  have  b^en 
Bted,  another  re«tion,  giving  strength  to  a  party  caUed  the 
^  mpematurahsts,   who  entirely  reject  all  the  historicli^vi. 
ice  m  favor  of  the  Scripture  mitacles.      Their  leader  in%ew 
%«land,  Mr.  Theodore  Parker,  \b  the  author  of  a^ork  of  great 
efudition,  originality,  and  earnestness  (lately  reprint^  in  England), 
m  which,  while  retaining  a  Mief}  in  the  Divine  origin  of  Chris- 
tianity,  and  the  binding  nature  pf  jits  moral  code,  he  abandons  the 
greater  part  of  the  evidences  o^  Which  its  truth  has  hitherto  been 
considered  to  repose.     I  heard  th|is  author,  during  my  late  stay 
m  Boston,  preach  to  a  congregation  respectable  for  its  ndmbers 
and  station. 

Next  to  the  neW  churches  anjd  fountains,  the  most  striking 
change  observable  in  the  streets  oif  New  York  since  1841    is  the 
introduction  of  the  electric  telegraph,  the  posts  of  which,'  about 
30  feet  high  and  100  yaxds  apai^t,  traverse  Broadway,  and  are 
certairUy  not  ornamental.  /OccasiqnaUy.  ^here  the  trees  interfere 
the  wires  are  made  to  cross  'the  sireet-KiiagonaUy.     The  success' 
ful  exertions  made  to  render  this  ijiode  of  communication  popular 
and  so  to  cheapen  it  as  to  bring  ttfe  advantages  of  it  within  the 
reach  of  the  largest  possible  nu|taber  of  merchants,  newspaper 
editors,  _and  private  individuals,  is  characteristic  of  the  counter 
There  ^  a  general  desire  evinc^l  of  overcoming  B«oe  which 
Beerai  to  Jiuqpini  all  tiieir  exertions  for  extending  and  improving 
^iwayt,  hnet  of  steam  navigati<)n,  and  these  telegraphs      Agri^ 
oulturiibi  and  mercantUe  men  in  Wiote  places,  are  eager  to  know 

•LIfcof  J.li>a<»White,valiii.  y.  ag&andvol.iii  r  ^^ 


~«^^ 


tk-O'iitJir' '\  '  '^'  ■ 


I    ; 


Chap.  XIII.]  THE  BLECTSIC  TBLEGRAPH. 


189 


every  wh^e.  on  tBfe  very  day  of  the  arrival  of  an  Atlantic  mail 
steamer,  the  prices  of  grain,  cotton,  and  other  articles  in  the  Euro- 
pean; markets,  so  that  they  may  speculate  on  equal  terms  with  the 
citizens  <^f  Boston  and  New  York.     The  politician,  who  is  am- 
bitious,  Hot  only  of  retaining  aU  the  states  of  the  Union  in  one 
powerful  tjonfederation,  but  of  comprising  the  whole  continent 
under,  oite  empire,  hails  the  new  invention  with  delight,  and 
foresees  ^t  once  its  iraport^t  consequences.^    Mr.  Winthrop  well 
knew  the  temper  of  the  people  whom  he  addressed,  when  he 
congratulated  a  large  meeting,  that  they  might  now  send  intelli- 
gehce  fiom  one  end  of  the  Union  to  the  other  with  the  rapidity 
of  thought,  and  that  they  Had  realized  the  promise  of  the  King 
of  the  Fairies,  that  He  would  "put  a  girdle  round  about  the  earth 
in  forty  minutes."     Already  many  paragraphs  in  th^  newspapers 
are  headedi  "Received  by  lightning,  printed  by  steam,"  and  rtll 
seem  heartily  to  wdcome  the  discovery  as  an  instrument  of  prog- 
ress.     When  promoting  such  works,  they  may  exclaim,  without 
boastmlness— . 

"  These  are  imperial  arts,  and  worthy  kings." 

After  my  return  from  America,  I  learned  that  the  length  of 
line  completed  in  1846,  amounted  to  above  1600  miles,  and  in 
1848  there  were  more  .than  5000  miles  of  wire  laid  down.  In 
that  year  one  of  my  finglish  friends  sent  a  message  by  tele- 
graph to  Liverpool,  in  ^^eptember,  which  reached  Boston  by 
mail  steamer,  vi&  Halifat,  in  twelve  days,  and  was  sent  on  im- 
mediately  by  electric  tele^aph  to  New  Orleans,  in  one  day,  the 
answer  returning  to  Bostbn  the  day  after.  Three  days  were 
then  lostMn  waiting  for  t^e  steam-packet,  which  conveyed  the 
message  back  to  England  in  twelve  days;  so  that  the  reply 
reached  London  on  the  twenty-ninth  day  from  the  sending  of  the 
question,  the  whole  diitaace  being  mor*  than  10,000  miles,  which 
had  been  traversed  at  an  average  rate  exceeding  350  miles  a  day. 

It  la  satisfactory  to  Imm  that  the  telegraph,  although  so  often 
pMiing  through  a  wild  country,  in  some  places  anticipating  even 
the  railway,  seems  never  jy«t  to  have  been  injured  by  the  lovers 
nf  miichiof.     Tho  wiius^ihi^ye  aku  bwu  ufton  nmak  by  lipf^ 


I  < 


i 


'~^. 


■i'.;r 


\ 


188 


THB  EIECTRIO  TBLBGRAPH.'.         [Chap.  XUI 


nin^,  io  frequent  aiid  vivid  ia  this  climate,  without  serious  de-. 
rjwgeinent  of  the  delicate  machinery.     The  telegraph  generally 
in  uae  is  the  patent.ttf  Mr.  Morse,  whose  invention  combines  the 
power  of  printing  a  message  simultaneously  with  its  transmis- 
sion.    As  the  magnetic  forde  becomes  extremely  feeble  when 
conducted  through  a  great  length  of  wire,  Morse  employs  it  sim- 
ply to  make  a  needle  vibrate,  and  so  open  and.  close  the  galvanic 
circmt  placed  in  each  office,  where  a  local  battery  is  set  in  mo. 
tion,  which  works   the  printing    machine.     The   long   wires, 
therefore,  may  be  compared  to  slender  traina  of  gunpowd«i^ 
which  are  naade  to  fire  a  distant  cannon  or  mine.     It  is  not  the 
battery  in  Philadelphia  which  works  the  instrument  in  Wash- 
mg^n.  but  a  battery  in  the  Washington  office;    This  contrivance 
IS  <^viou8ly  nothing  more  than  a  new  adaptation  of  the  method 
specified  by  Mr.  Wheatstone,  ii^  his  patent  of  June,  1837,  for 
nngmg  an  alanwi  bell  in  each  station  by  means  of  a  kwal  bat- 
tery, of  which  I  saw  him  exhibit  experiments  in  1837. 

In  September  of  the  same  year  Mr.  Morse  invented  an  in- 
gemous  mode  of  printing  messages,  by  causing  an  endless  scroll  of 
paper  to  roll  off  one  'cylinder  on  to  another  by  means  of  clock- 
work, the  paper  being  inade  to  pass  nnder  a  steel  pen,  which  is  . 
moved  by  electro-magnetism. 

An  agent  of  Mr.  Morse  explained  to  me  the  manner  in  which 
the  steel  pen  was  made  to  indent  the  paper,  which  ii  not  pierced, 
but  appears  as  if  it  had  been  pressed  on  by  a  blunted  point,  the 
w^der  surface  being  raised  as  in  books  printed  for  the  blind.  If 
the  contact  of  the  pen  be  continued  instead  of  making  a  dot,  it 
produces  a  short  or  a  long  line,  according  to  the  time  of  coki&t.^ 
Ihe  tollowmg  is  f^  specimen  :^-  \^ 


•*  •  -.».  •  «• 


'^^    •    E    I    •    c    t    r    o    M    a  ~g'   n*  i*  t    i  c 

Telegraph. 

In  the  latest  improvements  of  the  telegraph  in- England,  the 

magnetic  foree  has  been  so  multiplied  by  means  of  several  thou- 

jmd  ooi]b  of  wjxe.  that  they  cwn  ^d  it  direct,  so  as  to  muvu  ih^ 


\ 


fif'.;K^v* 


'^^^■^^^''■^■ts^^i^^^^l^i^'sr*  n-; 


FT 


'\0 


OnAf .  XIHO 


SOHOOU  IN  JIEW  TOaK. 


m 


needle  at  great  aistanoes  without  the  ai^  of  loonl  batteriei.  The 
use,  however,  of  t|ugia8trument  hag  been  comparatively  gmdl  in 
Great  Britain,  the^^  of  messages  being  four  tim«s  aa  great  tA 
in  the  United  States.  ;  - 

The  population  of  the  State  of  New  York  amounts,  in  the 
present  year  (1845)  to  8,604,495  souls.  Of  this  number  as 
we  learn  by  the  report  of  the  government  inspector  of  schools,  no 
less  than  807,200  children,  forming  lOmost  one-third  of  the  in- 
habitants, hav^  received  the  benefit  of  instruction  either  for  th^ 
iMhola  or  part  of  the  year.  Of  these,  31,240  attended  private 
schools,  and  742,433  th^  common  or  public  schools  of  the  state. 
We  are  also  informed  in  the  same  ofBcial  document,  that  the 
number  of  public  schools  is  now  U,003.  The  whole  amount 
of  money  received  by  the  school  trustees  during  the  year  for 
teachers'  wages,  and  district  libraries,  was  1,191,697  dollars, 
equal  to  about'  250,000/.  This  sum  has  been  raised  chiefly  by 
rates,  and  about  one-third  of  it  from  the  revenue  of  the  school 
fund,  which  produces  a  yearly  income  of  375,387  dollars.  The 
teachers  in  the  common  schools,  both  male  and  female,  are 
boarded  at  the  public  expanse,  and,  in-  addition  to  their  board, 
receive  the  following  salaries  :^Male  teachers,  during  the  winter 
^enn,  14  dollars,  16  cenits;  and  during  the  summer  term,  15 
dollfurs,  77  cents  per  month,  equal  tcM^out  50Z.  a  ^ear.  Female 
teachers,  7  doUars,  37  cents  in  th#^ntw  term,  and  6  dollars, 
2  cents  in  the  summer  term.  In^some  counties,  however,  the 
average  is  stated  to  be  as  high  as  20,  or  even  26  dollars  jwr 
month  for  the  male  teachers,  and  from  9  to  1 1  for  the  female. 
There  are  also  district  libraries  in  oonuectipn  with  most  of  the 
schools,  '  ' 

All  these  11,000  schools  have  been  orgaiiized  on  what  haa 
been  s^led  in  England,  even  by  respectaUi  members  in  the 
House  df  CcHQiimons,.  the  infidel  or  godless  plin,  which  generally 
means  nothii^  more  than  that  theyHre  not  unHer  the  manage- 
ment ^  %he  clergy.  The  Eoman  Catholic  bishops  and  pciesta^ 
command  a  yast  number  of  votes  at  the  elections  in  New  York, 
yet  they  failed,  in  1842,  to  get  into  .their  exclusive  control  that 


I 


4 


_g-^  ^=r33^K»K.-j^       ^ 


^••"«^T¥?- 


',^    ',1 


188 


SBCtJLAB  EDUCArrON. 


;^i*^*, 


4!^«„"  rru  '^  "  """'T^^^®?*'^^®^  of  their  ow^idenomftla- 
tton.     TW  efforts,  howevey,  though  fortunately  dJ/kd 


^ara^licable  to  the  1 

every  government  which  establishes  a  national  system  of  ,«^ar 

education,  to  see  tha*  no  book,  are  used  in  the  schools.  coat«ning 

«ctarum  ™ws  or  m  which  the  pecuUar  opinions  of  any  see! 

Zt^j:^  "'"^'^  '""'""P'-     "^^  Catholic,  compLed 

tt^   T.  T""  P"*  "'°  *«  '»»''"  »'■  <*M««'.  especially 

vZ  rf  u°?  **  English  history,  were  written  with  a  strZ 

Protestant  bias,  and  that,  .while  the  superstition,  of  popery  Z 

fte  hgotry  of  Bloody  Mary  were  pointSy  dwelt  upon,  thi  T 

«cut.on.  endured  by  Romanists  at  the  hands  of  Prol^t^TX 

were  overkoked.  or  slightly  glanced  at.     The  expunmns  of  su^ 

^es.  both  i^  the  State  of  New  York  miilZ^i^^, 

wWoh  ?r-  V^^""'  ^^'"'y  *"  ^'^  «=^*»ri'»  bitterne« 

i     mi  S^^hri.r  ^""=''*<^.-"  S"^  "P  less  prejudiced,  and 
^TJL^A  ^  •°  ?'"'-  *''"''  ^  *«  »<»°'»1'  «  '^7  other 

never  fo^d  taront^Cn:^-,J:-^re'rh;^ 

fiee  evaporation;  and  the  anthracite  coal  bum,  brifhtly  in  open 
grates.  Even  m  a  Moral  i„i„t  of  view.  I  regard  Sedom  Zm 
smoke  a,  a  positive  national  gain,  for  it  canSs  theTtor^^ 
more  educated  inhabitants  to  reside  in  cities  by  the  !ide  rfth^r 

Cu  rfd^tf  1"""?  '  larger  part  of  th/year,  22    ty 
•would  not  do  rf  the  a»  and  the  hou«»  were  as  much  sailed  bv 

ZeTe  rl"  ^r'r*  f'™^""™'  ^<->»'  »'  st^ell 
nere  the  dress  and  furniture  last  longer  and  look  leag  H.nn^ 

wri'^Ltr"'  '""  "'  '"'"^''"^  *-"  ^ei^^a^d"^' 
Who  can  afford  to  move  are  not  driven  into  the  country  or  some 
distant  suburb  The  formation  of  Ubr«ie,  and  s^i^til  s^d 
hteraiy^mstitutions.  mn»ums.  anU  lectures,  and  thrdZin!^ 
~u^  between  the  different  .rder.  of  .«»^-,:  f  ^gi 


:'^-^ 


f-jtt" 


'/lir' 


'f  (f«w%,rt';  ■ 


1! 


■^s^-" 


Chap.  XIII.  ] 


IRISH  VOTERS. 


189 


-^K- 


that  can  advance  and  refine  the  mind  and  taste  of  a  great  popu- 
lation,  are  facUitated  by  this  contact  of  the  rich  and  poor.  In 
mddilion,  therefore,  to  the  importance  given  to  the  middl.  and 
lower  classes  by  the  political  institutions  of  America,  I  can  not 
but_think  It  was  a  fortunate  geological  arrangement  for  the  civil- 
ization  of  the  cities  first  founded  on  this  continent,  that  the  an- 
thracitic  coal-fields  were  all  placed  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Alleghany  mountains,  and  all  the  bituminous  coal-fields  on  their 
western  side.  ^^^ 

-   One  day,  when  we  were  dining  ^P  great  table  of^e  Carl- 
ton  Hotel,  one  of  the  largest  and  most  fashionable  establishments      ' 
ot  the  km4  in  New  York,  wo  were  informed  by  an  American      . 

HI        *  *  ^°""^  ^'^^  ^^^  ^^""^  «i**i"ff  opposite  to  us  were 
well  known  to  him  as  work-people  from  a  factory  near  Boston. 

Ihey  scarcely  spoke  a  word,  but  were  conforming  carefully  to 
the  conventional  manners  of  those  arqund  them. 

^  Before  we  left  New  York,  we  witnessed  an  ijnforeseen  efiect  of 
the  abundance  of  waste  water  recently  poured  &to  the  city  through"^ 
the  new  Croton  aqueduct.-    In  the  loWer  streets  near  the  river 
the  water  m  the  open  gutters  had  frozen  in  the  course  of  the 
mght,  and,  next  morning,  the  'usual  channels  being  blocked  up 
with  ice,  a  stream  poured  down  the  middle  of  the  street,  and  was 
m  Its  turn  frozen  there,  so  that  when  I  returned  one  night  from     > 
a  party,  I  wished  I  had  been  provided  with  skates,  so  continuous     ' 
was  the  sheet  of  ice.     Then  came  a  thaw,  and  the  water  of  the 
melted  ice  poured  into  the  lower  stories  of  many  houses.     The 
authorities  are  taking  active  measures  to  provide  in  future  against 
the  recurrence  of  this  evil. 

I  suggested  to  one  of  my  friends  here  that  they  had  omitted, 
among  their  numerous  improvements,  to  exclude  the  pigs  from 
the  street!.  ««It  is  not  possible,"  said  he,  «'fbr  thi^all  have 
votes ;  I  mean  their  Irish  owners  have,  and  they  turn  the  scale  ' 
m  the  elections  fpr  mayor  and  other  city  officers.  If  we  must 
have  a  war,"  he  added,  "  about  Oregon,  it  wiU  at  least  be  at- 
tended with  one  blessing— the  stopping  of  this  incessant  influx 
of  hordes  of  ignorant  adventurers,  who  pour  in  and  bear  down 
mn  nntive  population.     Wl^ether  thoy  cdititemselveB  ^the trne"^"^ 


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NATIVISM. 


(OttAP.  XWi. 


MHiB  of  Erin,'  or  tlie  <  noble  mms  of  Germany,'  tfaey  ate  l^e  dupes 
and  tqdi  oicmx  demagogtws."  He  then  told  me  that  in  the  last 
presidential  election  he  had  ^n  an  inaqnectpr,  and  had  rejected 
many  fraudtdcnit  YotM  of  newly  anit«d  emigraJits,  brought  to  the 
poll  without  letters  of  naturalkatictn,  and  he  had  no  doubt  that 
some  other  inspectors  had  hem  less  sortqmlons  when  the  voters 
were  of-4lieir  own  politioal  party.  ••  But  for  the  foreign  vote/' 
he  affirmed,  **  Clay  would  hate  been  elected."  ^''**  Have  you  than 
joined  the  native  Americali  party  ?"  **  No  ;  'because,  by  s^a- 
rating  from  the  Whigs,  tiiey  have  weakened  the  good  cause,  and 
nativism  being  chi^y  anti-Irish,  too  often  degeneratel  into  relig- 
ious bigotry,  or  into  a  mere  u&ti-popery  faction." 


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Z. 


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.  -jiJi^it. 


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,&^J 


!4-: 


CHAPl-ER  3tiV. 

--Pft>tecdwiwt  Theom..--Iiicome  Tax  and  ReiradktioB.^Reorinrina. 
UOM  ag^rt  Bntwh  Aggrandiaement— Irwh  Quartar  aad  Iraadakiit 
•r-  7"^  ^."7^°°*'^  "»d  Aan«xatioii  of  Texaa— General 
Cass  for  War.-Wmthrop  for  Arbitration.-Jnflatod  Eloquenoe.-Su. 
^me  Conrt.— Slavery  in  District  of  Columbia—Mnwnm,  Collertion  of 
rotate.— Scnlpture  froQi  Palonqae.— Converaationa  with  Mr.  I^ox— A 
Residence  at,  Washington  not  favorable  to  a  jost  Estiiiiata  of  the  United 
States.— False  Position  of  Foreign  Diplomatista.: 

Dec,  9,  1 846 — ^Lbft  New  York  for  Philadelphia  by  railway. 
When  croeaing  the  ferry  to  New  Jerwsy,  saw  Long  laknd  and 
Staten  laland  covered^with  mow.  Between  New  York  nnd  New 
ark,  New  Jersey,  there  ia  a  deep  cutting  through  a  baaaltie  oi 
greenstone  rock,  a  eontinuation  of  the  mawi  which  formi  the 
columnar  precipices,  caUed  the  Palisades,  on  the  Hudson  river, 
above  New  York.  From  the  jagged  &oe  of  the  clifEs  in  this  cut- 
ting, were  hanging  some  of  the  largest  icicles  I  ever  beheld,  re- 
mmding  me  of  huge  stalactites  pendent  from  the  roofi  of  limestone' 
caverns  in  Europe. 

In  New  Jersey  we  passed  over  a  gently  undulating  surface  of 
country,  formed  of  red  marl  and  sandstone,  resembling  in  appear- 
ance, and  of  about  the  same  geological  age,  as  the  new  j^  sand- 
stone (trias)  of  England.     The  soil  in  the  fieUs  is  <*a  similar 
red  color,  and  all  signs  of  recent  clearings,  such  as  the'stimps  of 
trees,  have  nearly  disappeared.     The  copses,  formed  of  a  seoond 
growth  of  wood,  and  the  style  of  the  fences  round  the  fields,  gave 
an  English  aspect  to  the  country.     We  went  by  Newark,  Elba- 
bethtown,  Princeton,  Trenton,  Bordentown,  and  Burlington.     In 
■ome  of  these  plaoea,  as  at  Elizabethtown,  housfa  and  churches 
have  grown  up  round  the  railvray ;  and  we*  passed  through  the 
middle  of  Burlington,  a  great  source  of  oenvenienoe  to  the  nativm, 
wid  of  amusement  to  the  passengers,  but  implying  a  slow  rate  of 
traveling      Hereafter,  to  enable  express  triun«  t^  y>  m*  fa||  ^^  _ 
nomaoiuiloioaai,  ten  mm  ¥•  hnaA  liaM  otelnd*  tiit  l^iroa. 

'        •     '  J. 


I 


^7  '  "ft?»'j  ^v^ 


"   ■"'  ^l»''jj^'%     _T, 


"W- 


192 


WAR  ABOUT  9REGON. 


[CHiP.  XIV. 


As  we  passed  Burlington,  a  fellow  passenger  told  us  that  in  an 
Episcopalian  college  established  there,  called  St.  Mary's  Hall,  were 
a  hundred  young  girls,  whom  he  called  "  the  holy  innocents,"  as> 
sembled  from  every  part  of  the  Union.  Eighteen  of  them  had. 
in  September  last,  taken  their  degprees  in  arts,  receiving,  frotnthe 
hands  of  the  Bishop  of  New  Jersey,  diplomlus,  headed  by  an  en- 
graving of  the  Holy  Virgin  and  Child,  and  issued  "in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost."  The  session  had  ended 
with  the  ceremony  of  laying  and  consecrating  thp  comer-stone  of 
<'  the  chapel  of  the  Holy  Innocents  for  the  use  of  the  scholars  of 
9t.  Mary's  Hall." 

Whether  "MUb  took  up  a  newroaper,  or  listened  1;o  otMiversation 
in  ihe  cars,  we  found  that  th^  Oregon  question,  and  a  rupture 
with  England,  iKrere  the  all-esi^ssing  topic  of  political  specula- 
tion. The  democratic  party  are  evidently  intoxicated  with  their 
success  in  hsving  achieved  the  annexation  of  Texas,  and  are  bent 
on  future  schemes  of  territorial  aggrandizement.  Some  talk  of 
gaining  the  :;«vhole  of  Oregon,  others  all  Mexico.,  "1  heard  one 
fellow-traveler  say  modestly,  "We  are  going  oj»^  too -fast ;  but 
Mexico  must  in  time  be  ours."  On  arriving  at  Plmaidelphia,  I 
found  some  of  the  daily  joumfJs  written  in  a  tone  well-fitted  to 
create  a  war-panic,  coitnting  on  the  aid  of  France  in  jJHJ^yent 
of  a  struggle  with  Great  Britain ;  boasting  that  if  stU-tlflH^tem 
cities  were  laid  in  ashes  by  an  English  fleet,  they  wc^ua^build" 
them  in  ftve-  years,  and  extinguish  all  the  debts  dadfted  by  the 
war  in  thirty  years  ;  whereas  England,  borrowing  as  in  the  last 
war  many  hundred  millions  sterling,  must  become  bankrupt  or 
permanently  crippled  with  taxation.  I  asked  an  acquaintance, 
whether  the  editor  of  such  articles  secretly  wished  for  war,  or 
wanted  to  frighten  his  readers  into  a  pacific  policy.  •*  He  has 
lately  gone  over,"  said  he,  « to  the  protectionist  party.  Having 
knade  laige  purchases  of  shares  in  ah  iron  oomptmy,  and  -fearing 
that,  should  peace  continue,  the  free-traders  would  lower  the* 
tariff,  he  patriotically  hopes  for  a  war  with  England  to  enable 
him  to  ttuike  a  fortune.  He  is  one  of  those  philanthropic  monop- 
oUati  who  would  have  joined  in  a  toast  given  some  years  ago  at 
->  pnhlio  dinnnr  by-iineof  our  mffrnhwntB,^May4he-wnntt  of-aU- 


r 


^ 


,   ,^ 


''^'i^^imj!''J'f'p'''V7l^^^Wf''',0f''^^,^^^^^^^^l 


Chap.  XIY  ] 


INCOME  TAl 


•V 


I  i  . 


.193 


*t  *; 


nations  increase,  and  may  they  be.  mipplied  by  Peitnsylvania.' " 
•*  But  will  his  war  dreams  be  realizejtt,  think  you  ?"  "  Probably 
BOt;  yet  the  mere  anticipation  of  such  a  contingtocy  is  doing 
'  mischief,  checking  commercial  enterprise,  causing  our  state  bonds 
to  fall  in  value,  and  awakening  evil  passions.  You  will  scarcely 
believe  that  I  have  heard  men  of  respectable  standiiig  in  the  world 
declare,  that  if  a  war  breaks  out,  we  shall  at  le§s€  be  able  to 
sponge  out  our  state  debt !"  ff 

I  found  that  the  income  tax  laid  on  to  pay  the/ interest  of  this 
debt,  is  weighing  heavily  on  Pennsylvania,  and  mkny  a  citizen  is 
casting  a,  wistful  glance  across  the  Delaware,  it  the  untaxed 
fields  and  mansions  of  New  Jersey.      Some  mantle  to  evade  half 
their  burdens  by  taking  houses  in  that  state,  and/ resorting  in  the 
winter  season  to  Philadelphia  for  the  sake  of  society.     One  of  the 
►^Philadelphians  assured  me,  that  he  and  others /paid  sixteen  per 
cent,  on  their  income  for  state  taxes  ;  and  after/honestly  respond- 
ing to  all  th«  inquisitorial  demands  of  the  colle«Jtors,  they  had  the 
mortification  of  thinkmg  that  men  who  aie/less  conscientious 
escape  half  the  impost.     •«  Capital,"  he  said,/** is  deserting  this 
.  oity,  and  some  thriving  jitore-keepers,  whom/ySli  knew  here  in 
1842,  have  transferred,  their  business  to  nJw  York.     In  your 
'  Travels  in  America,'  you  welfe  far  too  indulgent  to  the  Penn- 
sylvanian  Whigs,  whd  promoted  the  outlay  <^  goiiremment  money 
on  public ^orks,  which  has  befen  our  ruin./  T^e  wealthy  Ger- 
man farmers  and  democrats  opposed  that  eipeiyditure ;  ♦  and  it  is 
not  German  ignorance,  as  some  Whigs  pebtenii,  which  has  en- 
tailed debt  a|id  disgrace  on  this  state,  hvitj  the  extravagance  of 
the  influential  merchants,  who  were  chiefl^  Whigs.    .  You  see  by 
the  papers  that  the  county  of  Lancaster,  ^  50,000  dollars  in  ar- 
rear  in  the  payment  of  state  taxes,  and  ike  punishment  inflicted 
-^^^vernjoafint  is  to  withhold  the  scho/l-money  from  these  de^ 
faulters,  thereby  prolonging  the  evil,  if  it  be  ignorance  which  has 
dulled  their  moral  sense."         •  / 

The  reluctance  to  resort  to  coercive /measures,  oh  the  part  of 
the  men  in  power,  for  fear  of  endangering  their  popularity,  is  ' 
striking ;  and  John  Bull  would  srail^  at  a  circulap-  just  issued 

r  iMAuruasuu 


VOL.   I -I 


UvMurer  ?to  t^nnitidi,  I6rae  of  whioE 


fejigw^s^'/  ■ 


.i£^s^itl  :sk<.  ■ 


/ 


194 


BRITISH  AGGRANDIZEMENT. 


[Ohap.  XIV. 


are  three  years  in  arrear.  He  praises. others  for  their  cheerful 
promptness  in  hearing  tiieir  fair  share  of  the  puhlic  liabilities, 
and  exhorto  the  rest  to  foUow  their  good  example,  for  the  honor 
and  credit  of  the  Commonwealth.  The  necessity  of  compulsory 
measures  is  gently  hwted  at  as  q^possible  contingency,  should 
they  continue  to  be  defaulters.  As  a  proof,  however,  that  more 
-  cogent  methods  of  persuasion  are  sotnetimes  resorted  to,  I  see 
advertisements  of  the  sale  of  city  property  for  the  discharge  of 
taxes ;  and  it  is  fair  to  presume,  that  patriotic  exhortations  have 
not  always  becA  without  efiect,  or  they  would  be  thought  too 
ridiculous  to  be  employed. 

I  observed  to  a  friend,  that  when  I  left  the  Ne"^  Englanders, 
they  were  decidedly  averse  to  war  about  Oregon.  "  Yes,^'  he 
rejoined,  «« but  they  are  equally  against  free  trade ;  whereas,  the 
people  in  the  West,  who  are  talking  so  big  about  fighting  for 
Oregon,  are  in  favor  of  a  low  tariff  and  more  trade  with  En- 
j^land,  which  would  make  war  impossible.  Which  of  these  two, 
think  you,  is  practically  the  mce  party?" 

In  the  leading  articles  of  several  of  the  papers,  I  read  some 
spirited  recriminations  in  answer  to  English  censures  on  the 
annexation  of  Texas.  Its^  independence,  they  say,  had  been 
acknowledged  by  Great  Britain,  and  its  inhabitants  had  volun- 
tarily joined  the  Unioh.  Some  journals  talk  of  following  «« the 
classical  example  of  the  mother-country,"  and  allude  to  the  con- 
quest of  Sindef%nd  the  intended  "annexation  of  Borneo."  A 
passage  is  also  cited  from  a  recent  article  in  one  of  the  leading 
London  journals,  to  the  following  effect : — «•  That  as  the  Punjab 
must  eventually  be  ours,  the  sooner  we  take  possession  of  it  the 
better,  and  the  less  blood  and  treasure  will  be  spent  in  saving 
frona  anarchy  the  richest  part  of  India."  But  it  is  easier  thus  to 
recriminate  than  to  reply  to  the  admirable  protest  published  in 
the  beginning  of  the  present  year  (January,  1846),  by  a  con- 
vention of  delegates  from  various  and  opposite  political  parties  in 
Massachusetts,  which  set  forth,  in  strong  terms,  the  unjustifiable 
manner  in  which  Texas  was  originally  filched  from  Mexico,  and 
the  tendency  of  such  annexation  to  extend  and  uphold  slavery, 
and  "probably  to  lead  to  a  Mexican^ war  " 


I  ^ 


'm^i^iisM^tt^ 


"^t-t  Zf '' 


■  ?:?'Vf^^i'?^r^r*fvsf^^^,f^ 


O. 


Chap.  XIV. 


Ohap.XIV.] 


FRAUDULENT  VOTES; 


y 


y 


'  iw 

During  our  stay  in  Philadelphia,  we  fieard  much  reirret  ex- 
pressed  at  the- e8tabli.hn.ent  of  what  is  called  here  TL^ 
quarter.  entaUmg.  for  the  first  time,  the  necessity  of  keeTi4uP 
a  more  expensive  pohce.     In  the  riots  of  May  6.  1844    man? 
hves  were  lost,  and  a  party  has  been  formed  of  native  AmerTcaS^ 
to  res«t  what  they  call  «.  the  papal  garrison."     AlthougTmu^ 
sectarian  feeling,  mixed  with  the  prejudice  of  race.  m^yZie 
been  betrayed  against  the  Irish  Romanists.  I  find  i    TmL^Zl 
not  to  sympathize  with  the  indignation  che'rished  here t^^d 
V.    u  ;f  ^'^^'""^«  ^^  ^l^«««  ^ith  the  ejections,  and  the  dZ^r 
which  threatens  the  liberties  of  the  country  from  fraudulentr 
mg.     OriginaUy  a  residence  of  five  years  was  required  to  confer 

ZinT"^  f nf^r  °'  ^  ""'^  ^"^^''  ^^  t^e  time  did  not 
beg  n  to  count  till  aiter  a  regular  notifieatii,n  of  his  intention  to 
settle  and  acquire  the  rights  of  citizenship,  accompanied  by  fo^ 
swearing  his  aUegiance  to  any  other  sovereignty.  The  federalists 
imprudently  extended  the  tenn  to  sixteen  years,  in  the  pres^Senl 
sh  p  of  John  Adams,  which  excluded  more  than  half  of  \he  popu- 
lation  in  some  newly  peopled  districts."^  The  original  term  of  five 
years  after  registration  was  again  restored  in  Jefferson's  president, 
ship  and  continued  till  the  contest  between  John  Quincy  Adams 

fnlfrr'T  ?  ^''  ^"'^^"^  '^"^f^  ^'  vropo^L  that, 
mstead  of  registration,  two  witnesses  might  depose  orparole  tha 
the  candidate  for  naturahzation  had  resided  five  years.  This 
regulation  has  led  to  much  fraui^nd  perjury;  Ld  cases  so 
flagrant  have  occurred,  that  judges  have  been  cashiered  for  con- 
niving  at  them.  The  same  rules,  however,  are. not  binding  ki 
aU  state  elections,  for  in  Virginia,  at  present,  the  right  of  ci^en- 
ship  demands  a  residence  of  seven  years,  whil^  in  Michigan  new 
comers  can  vote  two  years  after  their  aifrival. 

How  many  of  the  stories  related  of  fraiidulent  voting  may  bi 
true   I  can  not  pretend  to  decide;  but  I  was  amused  at  their 

Tart''  w?  T"''^-      ?  °"™'  *^^''  ^  '^  ^Id'  ^  «^dence  on  a     ' 
late  trial,  that  convicts.had  been  carried  to  the  poll  at  New  York     • 

and  then  taken  back  to  prison ;  and  that  the  dexterity  of  thos^ 

who  manage  the  Irish  vote  often  consisd  in  making  Paddy  believe 


% 


i*atty ^ntmed  to  the  TraScfiise:     Qne^^o  dup^ 


-:^ 


m^       i  ai  m  ^tf  t 


/iik. 


«% 


\ 


"♦     .  •     I 


HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVE^, 


[Chap.  XIV. 


having  voted  several  times  over  for  one  candidate,  was  at  length 
objected  to^  and  observed  with  naivetS,  "-that  it  was  hard  that 
his  vote  should  at  last  be  challenged,  when  so  many  inspectors 
had  taken  it  before  that  same  day."  .  An  emigrant  ship  arrived 
at  Newcastle,  on  the  Delaware,,  in  the  heat  of  an  election  for 
governor ;  the  Irish  emigrants  were  asked  if  they  would  support 
the  democratic  Candidate.  '*  We  are  all  fox  the  oppo^tion,"  they 
reblie4 ;  and  the  ingenuity  of  the  canvasser  was  taxed  to  make 
them  comprehend  that  the  Ins  in  America,  corresponded  in  their 
itics  with  the  Outs  in  Great  Britain. 

I  Such  anecdotes  prove  indisputably  that  the  purity  of  the  elee- 
tiiina  iis  at  leut  impeached,  and  it  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that 

ije  system  oiballot  precludes  all  scrutiny  after- the  election  is  over. 

I  !>«?.  13.  Washington — Went  into  the  House  of  Represent- 
aiiyes  ;  the  front  seats  in  the  gallery  are  reserved  for  ladies.  We 
Ibiund  the  member  for  Cbnnecticut,  Mr.  Rockwell,  on  his  1^, 
dfthrering  what  seemed  to  me  an  admirable  speech  against  the 
annexation  of  Texas,  especially  that  part  of  its  new  constitution 
which  prohibited  the  l^islature  from  taking  steps  toward  the 
littnre  abolition  of  slavei^.  Some  of  the  representative  were 
talking,  others  writing,  none  listening.  The  question  was  evi- 
dmtly  treated  as  one  gone  by — ^mere  matter  of  Wstory,  which  the 
course  of  events  had  consigned  to  the  vault  of  all  the  Capulets. 
Nevertheless,  a  feeling  of  irritation  and  deep  di^ust,  is  pervkding 
tll^  minds  of  the  anti-slavery  party  at  this  sudden  accession  of 
new  territory,  open  to  a  slave  population.  A  powerful  reaction 
has  begun  to  display  itself,  so  that  the  incorporation  of  Texas 
into  the  Union  may  eventually  be  attended  with  consequences 
most  favorable  to  the  good  cause,  rousing  the  whole  north  to 
make  a  stand  against  the  future  extension  of  slavery.  Mr. 
Winthrpp  has  hailed  this  more  hopeful  prospect  in  the  happiest 
strain  of  eloquence,  addressing  "  the  lone  star  of  Texas,"  as  it 
was  caHed,  in  the  words  of  Milton  : — 

^  ^'FeiireBt  o{  Bttin,  leut  in  the  train  of  night, 

If  rather  thou  belong'st  not  to  the  dawii." 

Crossing  the  Rotunda,' wie  passed  into  the  Senate,  and  heard 
G^aMraHGasSt  of  Michig^  a.  wgt  gpfech  on  the  Qregnn 


i.ii..  ,  '*' 


J^'^t'^Mi^'^A^i^iagMifki.f^ 


t:f,V)t.  .      ,.      ^ju, 


'"W^TB-^^*^ 


■  l'-„ 


f-v- 


Ohap.  XIV.] 


ARBITRATION. 


i^- 


197 


qu^tion.     The  recent  acquisition  of  Texas,  whi^  we  had  heard 
condemned  m  the  other'house  as  a  foul  blot  onZ^t^J^ 

He  4rew  an  animated  picture  of  the  aggrandizing  spirit  of  Gre^i 

fnd  pridl   O,'"  tf '  r^^-'of  ^ubi-^.  BpokelfCa^^^t 
and  pnde.  the  certainty  of  a  war,  if  they  wished  to  ma^tain 

"Grl"g'?' "??i!'*'  '^"^"^^^  of  an  irlediate  L^T 
"Great  Bntam,"  he  said.," might  be  wiUing  to  submiTthe 

WrZ"''"  -  v'^*'*^^^"'  '"*  *^«  crownedTads.  wZL  he 
would  propose  as  arbiters,  would  not  be  impartial,  for  thev  would 
chensh  anti.republican  feelings."  '  I  tho^t  the  styt^oS^ 
oration  Wter  thanits  spirit,  and  it  wasltened  to  ^thlite^ 
tion  ;  but  m  s|,ite  of  the  stirring  nature  of  the  theme,  none  ofThe 
senators  betrayed  any  emotion 

When  he  sat  down,  others  followed,  some  of  whom  read  ex- 
tracts  from  the  recently  delivered  speeches  of  Sir  Rob^rP^ 
and  Lord  John  Russell  on  the  OregorTffair,  commenttg  fiL^ 
and  fairly  upon  them,,  and  pointing  out  that  there  was  noS 
m  the  tone  of  the  British  Govermnent.  nor  in  the  native  of  th2 
demands,  which  closed  the  door  against  an  amicable  adjustme^ 
I  came  away  from  this  debate  much  struck  with  the  JH^ 
posture  of  affairs ;  for  the  executive  and  its  functionaries  sZto 
1^  domg  their  worst  to  inflame  popular  passions.  whUe  thej^s- 
lature   chosen  by  universal  suffrage,  is  comparatively  c^gft^d 

T^^TaI""'  "T  "^  *  ?'^»*''""'  responsibility.  whichT^esi. 
dent  and  his  cabmet  might  rather  have  been  expected  to  disTy. 

m;  W  Tr"^  "^  *'"\*'^  *^^  Vgumem^  in  General  Cass's  spLh, 
Mr.  Wxathrop  soon  afterward  moved  in  the  House  of  Rep^t- 
atives  (Dec.  19.  184^).  «« That  arbitration  does  not  necLarUy 
involve  a  reference  to  crowned  heads ;  and  if  a  jealousy  of  «ich 
a  reference  is  entertained  in  any  quarter,  a  commission  of  able 
and  dispassionate  citizens,  either  from  the  two  countries  con- 
cerned.  or  from  the  world  at  large,  offers  itself  as  an  obvious  and' 
unobjectionable  alternative." 

A  similar  proposition  emanated  simultaneously,  and  without 
rZSL^T  '^'  ^"^^^^  ^«^*>^«'*'   -ho™^  that  they  we^ 


— o —   ^»«.««»,   Buuwuw  tnai  inev  were 
reg»rdloflo  of  prooodunls.  and  relied  oit  the  justice  of  their  cause. 


11 


•il 


^-' 


k  v^-^i^f  i'P&^L 


i'»i"!j^j.    t  Iv-*  ■ 


198 


RECRIMINATION. 


[Chap.  XIV. 

Although  it  i)»ra8  declined,  the  mere  fact  of  a  great  nation  having 
waived  aU  punctilious  etiquette,  and  ofiered  to'  settle  a-point  at 
issue  by  referring  the  question  to  private  citizens  of  high^charac 
ter  and  learned  m  international  law,  proves  that  the  world  is 
advancing  m  civilization,  and  that  higher  principles  of  morality 
are  beginning  to  gain  ground  in  the  intercourse  between  nations 
-  "All  who  ought  to  govern,"  said  a  member  of  Congress  to  me, 
«ar»  of  one  mmd  as  to  Lord  Aberdeen's  overture;  but  they  who 
do  govern  here,  will  never  submit  to  arbitration." 

The  Senate  consists  at  present  of  fifty-nine  members,  and  will 
soon  be  augmented  by  two  from  Texas  and  two  from  Iowa  the 
Union  consistmg  now  of  twenty-seven  states,  with  a  population 
of  about  twenty  millions^  ^  F"!""*""" 

The  appearance  of  the  members  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives IS  gentlemanhke,  although  I  doubt  not  that  the  scenes  of 
violence  and  want  of  decorum  described  by  many  travelers,  are 
eorte^  pictures  of  what  they  witnessed.  In  this  nation  of  read- 
ere  they  are  so  sensitive  to  foreign  criticism,  that  amendment  may 
be  confidently  looked  for.  At  this  moment,  the  papers,  by  way 
of  retaliation,  are  amusing  their  readers  with  extracts  from  a 
debate  m  the  Canada  House  of  Assembly.  The  followinff  may 
serve  as  an  example  :-...Our  Canadian  friends  occasionally  read 
ua  a  lecture  on  courtesy  and  order,  we  therefore  eite  from  a  report 
f  ^^*'i  ^;^'***^^"  proceedings,  what  we  presume  they  intend  as 

Zthi  ^'  Z  TT"".  •^'-  ^'  ^^^VeM  to  the  chair  to 
stop  the  member  foi  Quebec,  and  threatened  if  he  was  not  called 
to  order,  that  he  must  go  over  and  pull  his  nose ;  at  which  Mr. 
A.  rejoined,  '  Come  and  do  it,  you  scoundrel !'  "  Another  exam- 
pie  of  reonmmation  that  I  have  lately  seen,  consisted  in  placing 
in  two  parallel  columns,  first  an  extract. from  the  leading  article 
of  the  London  Times,  rating  the  Americans  in  good  set  terms 

FnlT^  r'"  \r^  ''^^'  '"^  ^^^^*^'  ^'^d  «°*"«  abuse  of 
^England ;  and.  ^condly,  an  account  given  by  the  same  journal 

of  a  disorderly  discussion  m  the  House  of  Commons  on  an  Irish 

question   m  which,  among  other  incidents,  a  young  member  of 

iubbur.T'  ^rl^^'f  '''  "^  '°P^)  '°^  in  the^midst  of  the 
hubbub,  and  imitated  the  crowing  of  a  cock. 


i  LiLBiS^^J.*!  -,.l.'.  ) 


^T  'f  fl^J-JBtH"  ■»*'#^  V»f    ■ 


fe-r-  *> 


i  i 


Chap.  XIV.] 


INFLATED  BLOQtIENOB. 


199 


A  member  ofCongress,  who  frequented,  when  in  London,  the 
gallery  of  the  House  of  Common^,,  teUs  me  he  was  struck^dth 
what  seemed  an  affectation  of  rusticity,  members  loHing  in  lo^ 
mg  attitudes  on  the  betoes  with  their  hats  on.  s^g  wJfh 

If  m  defiance  of  restramt.  Th^,  English  method  of  coughing 
down  a  troublesome  member  is  often  alluded  to  here,  and  hL^ 
one  occasion,  been  gravely  recorahiended  for  adoption,  as  a  par- 
lamentary  usage  which  might  advantageotti^ly  be  imitated,  rather 
than  the  Imitation  of  each  speaker  to  onThour.  a  rule  now  in 
force,  which  has  too  often  the  effect  of  making  each  orator  tWnk 
It  due  to  himself  to  occupy. the  house  for  his  fuU  term 

It  would  be  mipossible  to  burlesque  or  caricature  the  ambitious 
style  of  certam  members  of  Congress.  especiaUy  somewhohave 
risen  from  humble  stations,  and  whose  schooHng  has  been  in  the 

by  a  member  for  JUinois.  as  chairman  of  the  Post-office  Coimnit- 
tee.  may  serve  as  an  example.  After  speaking  of  the  American 
repubhc  as  "the  infant  Hercules,"  and  the  extension  of  their 
imperial  dominion  over  the  "northern  continent  and  oriental 
seas,  he  exclaims,  "  the  destiny  of  our  nation  has  now  become ' . 
reveaed  and  great  •  events,  quickening  in  the  womb  of  time, 
reflect  their  clearly-defined  shadows  into  our  very  eye-balls 

"  Oh,  why  does  a  cold  generation  frigidly  repel  ambrosial  gift*-, 
like  these,  or  sacrilegiously  hesitate  to  embrace  their  glowing  and 
resplendent  fate  ?  ^li:  -  "*e  ***** 

"Must  this  backward  pul^the  government  never  cease; and 
the  nation  tug  forever  beneath  a  dea^  weight,  which  trips  its 
heels  at  every  stride  ?"  ^        . 

-From  the  Senate  House  we  went  to  another  part  of  the  Capi- 
H,  to  hear  Mr.  Webster  plead  a  cause  before  the  Judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  These  judges  wear  black  gowns,  and  are  I 
believe,  the  only  ones  in  the  United  States  who  have  a  costume. 
The  point  at  issue  was  most  clearly  stated,  namely,  whether  the 
city  of  New  York  had  a  legal  right  to  levy  a  tax  of  one  doUar 
on  every  passenger  entering  that  port,  who  had  never  before 
>4«l«d«iyportvofThe^iffiffirTrhe  number  of  em^        being" 


-m 


.i.iii-,.4>.'S;^ 


,1^ 


900 


WASHINGTON.'  "      tO.«.  XIT. 


peat,  no  !«,««„  100.000  doUu.  had  been  annnaUy  rti«d  bv 
tt«  import,  the  money  being  applied  ctiiefly  as  an  hospital  fond 
It  wa.  contended  t1«  the  Federal  Goyenm.ept.aloi  had  {he 
nght  of  ampoMog  duties  on  commeibe.  in  whibh  light  this  pasaen- 
fl^     ""*      *"        ™'™':     ^''*  Court,  h<>vever:™lod 

.n/'T.r'^*^  °"'  *°'"'' "  *  """kable  »«.rof  the  asoend- 
enoy  of  the  democratic  party  in  the  Federal  Cfoybrnment  for 

•  ZTl*'*""^*'  *^'l°'^y '''"'  "'■  ^  th»  J-dge.  now  on  the  b«aich 
had  been  nominated  by  the  Whigs.  ,  ■    - 

™iS"\r^'w-".u''*  """  '^"^  *o™  ,J*ennsyIyania.  Avenue 

up  to  him  wiUi  a  connteuanoe  full  of  pleasure,  saying  ifSlas 
"vera!  year,  smce  she  had  seen  him.  ind  gre^tinJ  W^ 
suoh,  an  afifetionate  Warmth  of  ^ressiin,  thlt  I  Wan "  O 

tT  '  ,"f r*/,"^  ™'*"^  »f  »■'«  An^lo-Saxon  Sa  ^ 
«»^«emja  flo*  of  f^ing  of  this  southern  race.  My  oomb.^* 
expbjned  to  me.  that  she  was.  a  very  intelligent  giVaiS^ 
^^„1  to  him  for  an  aot  of  kindness  L  had  once  fad'aHp^ 
tumqr  of  showmg  her.  I  afterward  learnt,  from  some  Xr 
faend^  to  whom  I  told  this  anecdote,  that,  4ree  yea^  Jfo! 

had  been  lodgmg  m  the  house  of  this  girl's  mistiess,  and  heartoi 
that  she  was  sentenced  to  be  whipped  for  s«ne  offeU  h^T^h 
ofAem  protested,  they  would  instantly  quit  the  house  fTe  mfa^    ^ 

she  had  be«i  giymg  way  to  a  momentary  Ht  of  teiper. 

an SlTn  "  "'^  ^^  '^*"'=*  "^  Columbia^oomprising 
au  area  of  1 00  square  nules.  borrowed  froft.  the  neighboring  etaS 
te  form  an  mdependent  jurisdiction  by  itself.  Sever^  ^tZ^ 
W^been  made  to  declare  it  free,  but  hitherto  ii  ^"S 

ers  ^  by  the  nnpraotioable  schemes  of  the  aboUtiwiists 
^i^^,rW-  ^  """  "^  *^«  ■'™'  ^"tomao  fi«m  the  hUl  on 

»^  rt^r^^  .r  '  ^"^"t  "^'''  "^  <^"«^  «rohitecture.^e 
we  struck  with  the  Bma<),  progress  made  in  three  yeaqrin^,. 


1 


^i^^^^^Kif^^ 


■:\' 


"f,  'gj'"swv~f^'?,.'"'f'ac4'J'"'*'"i'i> 


Oba»,.  XIV.] 


■^^ 


-MUSEUM. 


:^lMt  Hei«     The  Vacant  spaces  are  not  filW  4tf  witiu,rivate 
-      ^»^  •^^"iing^^to  the  original  pM^ 

>  JS^      Tr  *^  ''^  f  ^f  -°-  P-J-tor'.  «,heme  which  r 
^1^-^^'     The  principal  hotels,  however,  have  improved,  and  #e 

^T r"^f:J'l''^^  last  here,  by  the  od^  Jeft  in  ^e 

'     ^^  •    M      1^  IV^  or.pa»age8,  without  changing  their  cloihes 
,     With^^^ar  habits,  in  a.hot  climate,  no  ^r^  of  anV^^T 

In  the  pubhc  mu8eum,*t  the  Patent  Office  I  was  glS  ta^ 
Mife.cl^ec^n  of  objects  of  natural  histery,  brough^W  W 
Ae  late  Exploring  Eipeditioti.  commanded  by  CaptS  Wilk^f 
Among  other  treasure  is  a  splendid  series  of  recent  Ss.  a  good 

fdTT  f "^«»^' if-*™t«i  by  plates,  will  s^^pubCi 
^  by  Mr.  Dana,  at  the  expense  of  Govermnent.     Thl  zoo^^ 
in  J^  ""^  «^nipani«i  by  masses  of  soHd  limeston^.  occaripnally 
r  !?7  ^^^'^^'^tly  formed  in  coral  reefe,  like  those^  mln- 
^o^  by  IVfc^  Barwin  as  occurrii,g  in^the  South  Seas.  som*.  a. 
hard  as  marble,  others  (insisting  of  cohglomerates  of  pebbles  i^nd"- 
c^cweous  sand.    Li  several  of  the^pSens  I  saw  thVimb^ded 
^p^tes  and  shells  injecting  fromihe  weathered  surface,  as  do 

w  tS"^'  r*  "".  ""''"y  ""  St  ^^^^  where  they  have 
resisted  di«ntegration  more  ih^ie  matejx,  ^Other  fragments 
were  as^hite^and  soft  as  ehalk  ;/one  in  particular,  a  cubic  f^t 
m  bulk,  brought/from  one  of  the/^widwicV  Wan^s,  might  have 
been  mistaken  for  a  piece  of  ShAspeaxe^  Cliff,  near  D^^er.  It 
remm^ed  me  that  an  English  Mend, -a  professor  of  poUtical  econ- 
omy.  m^  me  about  fifteen  yeWs  ago  on  the  beach  at  Dover,  after 
he  had^ust  read  toy  "Prin^ples  of  Geology,"  and  exckimed. 
Show,  me  massed  of  pure /white  tock,  like  the  SHbftanee  of 
these  chfis,  m  th^  act  of, ^ng, in  the  o^an  over  areas  at  . 
large  as  France  oi-  England,  and  lwiUbehev6  all  your  theory 
of  modem  causes."  Since/  that  time  we  have  obtabed  data  for 
iliferring  that  the  growth/of  corals,  and  the  deposition  of  chalk- 
hke  calcareous  mud.  is  a/tMy  going  on  over  iBtSTch  wider  areas 
than  the  whole  of  Eurc^p^  so  that  I  anr  now  entitled  to.  claim 
, my  ittcredgloua triq^-aii  aproaelyte. 


•'/ 


"  o^ 


/-♦ 


•^1 


\: 


/U 


1-^ 


..  J 


M^^^  -*»• 


^'r^m   -j^-^-"  *5r"«i.  ■'j^jsi*/ 


208 


SCULPTURE  FROM  PALENQUB>     [Crap.  XIV. 


In  one  of  the  glass  cases  of  the  Museum  I  saw  the  huge  skull 
of  the  Megatherium,  with  the  i'emains  of  other  extinct  fossil 
animals  found,  in  Georgiin-a  splendid  donation  presented  by  Mr. 
Hamilton  Pouper.     In  another  part  of  the  room  were  objects  of 
antiquarian  interest,  and  fimong  the  rest  some  sculptured  stones 
from  the  ruins  of  Palenque,  inscribed  with  the  hieroglyphic  or 
picture-writing  of  the  Aborigines,  with  which  Stephen's  lively 
wor|^  on  Central  America,  and  the  admirable   illustrations  of 
Catherwood,  had  made  us  familiar.     The  camp-chest  of  G^ral 
Washington,  his  sword,  the  uniforin  worn  by  him  when  he  re- 
signed* his  commission,  and  even  his  stick,  have  been  treasured 
up  as  relics  in  this  national  repository.     If  the  proposition  lately 
made  in  the  public  journals,  to*purcha8e  Washington's  country 
residence  and  negro-houses  at  Mount  Vernon,  and  to  keep  them 
forever  in  the  sjate  in  which  he  left  them,  should  be  carried 
mto  effect,  it  would  not  only  be  a  fit  act  of  hero-worship,  but  in 
the  course  of  time  this  farm  would  become  a  curious  antiquarian 
monument,  showing  to  after  generations  the  state  of  agriculture 
at  the  period  when  the  Republic  was  founded,'  and  how  the  old 
Virginian  planters  and  their  slaves  lived  in  the  eighteenth  century 
Befqre  leaving  Washington  ^e  called,  with  Mr.  Winthrop,  at 
the  White  House,  the.  residence  of  the  President.     A  colored 
servant  in  Uvery  came  to  the  door,  and  conducted  us  to  the  re- 
ception-room, which  is  well-proportioned  and  well-furnished,  not 
in  sumptuous  style,  but  without  any  affectation  of  republican 
plainness.     We  were  politely  received  by  Mrs.   Polk,  her  bus- 
li»nd  bemg  engaged  on  public  business.      I  was  afterward  intro- 
duced  to  General  Scott,  to  Captain  Wilkes,  recently  returned 
from  his  expeditite  to  the  South  Seas,  to  Mr.  Bancroft,  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  and  called  on  our  minister,  Mr.  Pakenham,  and  our 
old  friends,  M.  and  Madame  de  Gerolt,  the  Prussian  minister  4ind 
his  wife.     I  also  examined  a  fine  coUecUon  of  fossils  belonging  to 
Mr.  Markoe,  who  has  taken  an  active  part  in' founding  an  insti- 
tuticm  here  for  the  promotion  of  science  and  natural  history.    The 
^ajr  before  our  departure  I  had  a  long  and  agreeable  conversation 
with  our 'ex-miniiter,  Mr.  Fox,  whose  sudden  and  unexpected 
death  happened  a  few  month.  Ut^r      j  ^^]^  }^^^  ^^^^  ^^^  j^^ 


I  j,4^      .'»! 


'^^ 


vj0^^^u:f:^;%..-^l^  i'^*'%,  Ml' 


'<*f^  -■  -?■■ 


'  i^^^C'W-^ 


S 


0«A>.  Xiy.]        OOWVEBaATIONS  WITH  MB.  FOX. 


^  MS 

ft^wt "  "l"^^^  *^"  ^  •'""^^  ■««  »"*  »  »  W  to„  when 
priloVin  Tm,    ,?  ""*'  *'V'^''*"  ^"^-^  ™»  downed 

ing  the  p^cipal  office™  of  the  army  and  navy.  K^Z^Tt 

of  t^  Brith  .        *>»'•»««•««  de.ti„y  to  ri»  on  the-rnin^ 
to^^.h  1^  empire;  but  when  the  Preadent,  aecorduur  t^ 
treaty.  AaU  have  g, ven  notice  of  a  partition  of  Or^on  thM^wfll 
be  tune  for  negotiation.     If  one  »f  two  di,putantr^rjZ 
knock  the  other  down  eighteen  Ath.  hen«..  wSl^l™,^ 
hend  monediat.  mi^hief?"     ..ITey  are  not  «mii"  l^T 
"No  augury  can  be  drawn  ftom  tfet  fact."  he  Sd     "the 
people  «e  .g«n«  arge  pe«>e  ertablf.hment.  knowSgl^at  th^ 
«  no  fe«  of  howde  attack,  ftom  without  unle«  they  prowk" 
them,  and  „t«fied  that  their  wealth  and  population  ve  aSTuy 
mcreaemg.     They  are  fuU  of  courage,  and  would  develop^;^!' 

'^Z^TZT  '"  '  ""■  '""'°™'  "'"'"'  "«y  -»"'  'Uffer  at 

tion  m  the  North  Amenoan  continent.  He  h^lformed  far  le« 
«ngume  eipectationi.  th«i  I  had.  but.confo«ed.  that  though  he 
had  rwided  «.  many  yean,  in  .the  country,  he  knew  little  or  noth- 
ing of  the  northern  .tate.,  especially  of  New  England.  When 
I  dwelt  on  the  progre«  I  had  witne»ed,  even  in  four  year.,  in 
the  Mhool.  and  educational  in«rtitution,.  the  inowa*  of  reader, 
and  of  good  book,,  and  the  preparation,  making  for  future  Kien- 
tific  achievement.,  he  frankly  admitted  that  he  had  habituaUy 
contenlplated  the  Union  from  a  wmewhat  unfavorable  Mint  of 
vow.     I_ob«,nred  to  him  that  Wa.hington  wa,  not  a  metropo- 

t  u  ..  .  V""  •""  "*<'  Edinburgh  or  Dublin,  but  a  town 
which  had  not  thriven,  in  .pite  of  government  patronage.  The 
member,  of  Congre«  did  not  bring  their  familie,  to  it.  b»cau«  it 


rould  ullmi  iIl"    i.r..   -  "„  ;"^^,"'^^^''^'»"^««Jo  it,  became  it 
would  ullou  take  them  away  from  larger  cities,  where  they  were 


0 


jMjiii^itfetiiL'H 


'  1    "     *>&■'■*■  VA^'**'-'*^  *V    /"^i 


804 


FOREIGN  DIPLOMATISTS. 


[Chap.  XIV. 


,  enjoying  more  refined  and  inteUectual  society.     It  was  as  if  the 

Legislature  of  the  British  empire,  representing  not  only  England 

Scotland,  and  Ireland,  but  Canada,  Newfoundland, .  the  West 

Indies  AustraHa.  the  Cape,  and  all  the  other  dependencies  of  the 

^ritish  crbwn,  were  to  meet  in  some  third-rate  town.     Nor  even 

then  would  the  comparison  be  a  fair  one,  because  if  there  be  one 

characterisUc  more  than  another  which  advantageously  distin- 

guishes  three-fourths  of  the  American  population,  it  is  the  hiirh 

■ocial.  mteUectual,  and  political  condition,  relatively  speakinir  of 

the  working  classes.     The  foreign  diplomatist  residing  in  Wwh- 

jngton  hves  within  the  borders  of  the  slave  territory,  where  the 

laborers  are  more  degraded,  and  perhaps  less  progressive,  than  in 

any  European  state.     Besides,  the  fq^^ign  embassadte,  in  kb  offi- 

ci|U  and  pohtical  capacity,  too  often  sees  exposed  the  weak  side 

kssness  of  the  federal  eiecuUve  to  carry  out  its  own  viei.  and 
to  control  the  will  of  thirty  independent  stktes.  or  as  many  im- 
penam  %mperw.     Just  when  he  may  have  come  to  an  under- 
standing j^th  the  leading  statesmen  on  points  of  international 
law,  so  that  his  negotiaUons  in  any  other  metropolis  would  have 
been  brought  to  a  successful  issue,  he  finds  that  the  real  difficul- 
ties  are  only  beginning.     It  still  remains  to  be  seen  whether  the 
government  is  strong  enough  to  contend  with  the  people,  or  has 
^e  wUl  so  to  act,  or  whether  it  wiU  court  popularity  by  yielding 
to  their  prejudices,  or  even  exciting  their  passions.     Such  is^ 
this  moment  the  position  of  afiairs,  and  of  our  minister  at  Wadx- 


.  ;-.,.-■   ^v,..,^^..,,--^ »»^'- 


f«5^«j«  •■  mw^r'"^"" 


CHAPTER  XV. 

' dealer-Kindness  tTNeiJ^^I^^^^  Instruction-Slave- 

—Visit  to  the  Mine.  —uK^X^i  jf  ^^*»°  Pe"«l  near  Richmond, 
ness  rf  Coal  S^t-ExKon  l^L    "^^^  f^'^''^  *"*»  Thick- 

»onbed  with  go  much  humor  by  DickeD7 

At  Richmond  I  went  into  the  Supreme  Court  of  Anneal  u.H 
«  I  entered   heard  the  coun«l  who  w«  ple«l  J  dte  .  ;e^: 
dec.„on  of  the  English  Court  of  Ch«.cery  I  bei2g "n  hi.^ 

Wrd  T/^I'r''*""  "^  Virgmia  were  in  Zion  „Tf 
Sr^  .r^  f.!!  ''^'"''  «»■»  P-posed  railway  from  Balti^  to 
ae  vJley  of  the  Gr«t  Kanawha,  in  Westein  Virgima.  Tuch 

rflTlLZ  TT"  'n*""  """"'•»"«  of  Maryland,  in"^ 
of  Richmond,  diould  reap  the  chief  fruit,  of  thi.  project  it  whi^ 

Lrirrr*^  •  *"  '''*'^'''  ^t^  apopmationruoMot 

mhabtanta  h».  no  to,™,  larger  th«.  Richmond  and  Norfolk 
Beverly,  and  the  early  writer,  on  thi.  .tate.  «y,  -.  tJat  Ae  neoi 

each  planter  and  receive  their  freight.  Hence  there  wa.  ll 
~>t.vty  and  enterpri«,.  and  a  want  of  the  oompetiU.rwr^  Z 
collected  life  in  oitie.  promote.."*  l»"uon.  wwcn  the 

nfZ^  ""  """"r*-  T*""""  ^  """^  ■"«*  *^'  ^"y  •"fore  at  .  din- 
ner  party,  oonver,ed  with  me  on  the  publication  of  the  gwiogiMl 

*  flu  "(inlnin'i  ^|^luiJ^'■  ml.  |.  p.  m. 


"Siff  c^"^^^  ''< 


V  •- 


V  '^'WJf  "■ 


'  '"■"^T'l 


r  g^fi.»^.^|^^j-a**^"^i*i'?i 


30C 


VIRGINIA. 


COHip.  XV. 


map,  and  rep>*ta  of  the  Slate  Sunrey.  which  have  been  admira- 
bly racecuted  under  the  direction  of  Professor  W.  B.  Koeers 

The  division  of  legislative  duties  between  a  central  power/such 
»  I  had  just  seen  dehberating  at  Washington,  «.d  the  ^^arate 
W  "f  rJ™'  »""««•  '"*  "  that  now  in  .imult«.eou,  action 
here  at  Bichmond,  seems  the  only  form  fitted  for  a  widely  ex- 
tended  empire,  rf  the  representative  system  is  to  prevail.  The 
pre«nt  populaUon  of  the  different  slates  may  be  compared  on  an 
average,  to  that  of  English  counties,  or,  at  le«t,  to  cdom^  ^Z 
Bntish  empire.     At  the  «ime  period  of  the  year,  when  each  i. 

^S"*  «  °™  f""  '■"'P^  *<■  i»t«™l  ivprovementJ! 
school^  coUeges,  pohce.  railways,  canals,  and  direct  taxe»_the 
central  parliament  «  di«>usring  question,  of  foreign  policy-Z 

rtate.  at  Washmgton,  but  not  with  the  same  efficiency  or  ZT- 
«my ;  for,  m  that  ease,  the  attention  of  the  member,  if  theTo 
h.™«»  of  Co«gre«,  would  be  distracted  by  the  number  and  van'^y 
of  .ubjects  submitted  to  them,  and  the  leading  stateMuen  3d 

S'atV't™*'^'"  "''"'"'''  "^  ParU^entary  bl^* 
«^e  at  Richmond,  we  saw  some  agreeable  and  refined  so. 

o°2r  U  *"  '"f  ■"  f  *""  J""^'  °f  *«  Supreme  ^urf  JS 
other  Uwyer. ;  bat  there  is  Uttle  here  of  that  activity  of  mW 

W  ^7  '"'i""'""  »<•  "i"-""  which  strike.  oL  in  Se 
best  oircle,  in  Now  England.  Virginia,  however,  see™  to  b^ 
"U"ng  herself,  and  preparing  to  make  an  effort  t^XgTh^ 

ST  ''""T""*  "■""''  "^  '»*«™«1  improvemenu  Her 
pnde  ha.  been  hurt  at  weing  how  rapidly  her  old  polit^ 
«eendency  has  pa»ed  away,  and  how,  with  «  la  J  Irrich^ 

ZTX'ohiT  ^"  °"'""Pr»  »  *«  -0  by^ews"!' 
especiauy  Ohio.     She  is  unwillinir  to  beli«v«  tK«*  i. 

popuUtion  is  the  chief  obstacle  toConwSd  mareh'^et""^ 
not  riiut  her  eye.  to  the  fact  that  the  upper  or  hiUy  rerion  „? 
die  AUeghanie.,  where  the  white,  prediate,  C  Z^.^ 
r^m  m  a  more  rapid  ratio  than  L  eanernl^ti^M- 


fe  -t     1»  - 


CHir.  XV.]  WHITE  AND  SLAVE  LABOR 


1  i 


whiteg  who  Uve  wart  of  the  Blue  Ridge  ^  about  eoual  ™ 
numb.,  to  tho.  who  Uve  e«t  of  it ;  but  Ae  ea.C  LS,  Tf 
ower  couutrjr.  owns  »  greater  number  of  dayes.  and  in  right  of 
them  has  more  vote,.     The  ■  western  men  are    altog  lo"dJy  of 
a  conyenfon  to  plaee  them  on  a  inore  equal  footing  JTXen 
deanag  a  separation  into  two  states. .   There  h^ki^  teen  a 
suggestion  that  it  might  be  weU  to  dlow  a  single  cojrt^ 
declare  .t«lf  free,  without  waiting  for  theem^ioipaSn  oZhe,^ 
^o^  other  „g™  of  approaohing.ohange,  I  «n  told  tSat  »™S 
Z  It  t""- ";'  ■""*  '"™  ""^«  »  P'^^'i  demoustrlti^ 
itt!  ^7  f^'  "  l^  P"**""*'  o™"  «"*  of  th*  Blue  RiC- 

Washmgton,  a  landed  proprietor  of  Fairfax  county  pointed  out 

which  free  had  been  substituted  for  slaye  labor  rince  I  was  h^re 
Lticlt  an?T  ',!!  T"^  ^^^  Hamp^ire  and  Con- 
tiUed  It  with  their  own  hands  and  those  of  their  family  .aided  in 
some  case,  by  a  few  hired  whites.  To  the  astonisZ,ekt  rf  the 
surroundmg  planters,  b*fore  the  end  of  four  years,  they  had  raised 
the  yalue  of  the  soil  fiom  fiye  to  forty  doUars  SLTh^ 
mtroduced  for  the  first  time  a  rotation  of  com  Z  ^  Zf 
.nste«i  of  first  e^austing  the  soil,  and  then  letting  H^fZ^ 
for  years  to  recoyer  itself     They  haye  also  escaped  the  ruinZ 

ZZl^  '"^  •l^'"  "  "'^  '»  thoT^asons  wh» 
&e  haryest  «  deficient.     They  do  not  pretend  to  indulge  in  thaJ 

were  celebrated   who  often  mortgaged  their  estates  to  pay  the 

Z^r  -17  "^  *^"  °"r''  **"  '"'  ^^^  ^-^^  theP"^ 
pnetor.     The  master,  m  that  case,  usually  migrated  with  part 

of  hi.  negroes  to  settle  farther  «,uth  or  southwest,  introducing 

^l^."*Ii^f'°'u'"°t""^'"^  '"''"'  ""J  ■»"»•"  »h»»  would 
haye  belonged  to  them  had  they  been  entirely  peopled  by  adyen- 
turers  from  the  north  or  from  Europe. 

On  Sunday,  December  the  21.t,  we  attended  service  in  a 
htodwme  new  Episeopri  church,  called  St.  Paul's,  and  heard 


^1. , ^ — *"!'  ^"'**"".  mmcu  oi.  jrauig,  and  heard 

«w  rootof  "imiounTO^mTliB^oiipepedrifiat  a  decision  ^h^^^ 


!«.■,'«-, ,,r— I-  -wnffZ-'T^'    j_j^Y>»«!S-"  S  t-TJ 


208 


NEGRO  EDUCATION. 


[Chap.  XV. 


been  come  to  (by  a  majority  of  all  the  proprietors  of  the  church, 
w  I  WM  afterward  informed),  that  one  of  the  «de   galleries 
8houl4  henceforth  be  set  apart  exclusively  for  people  of  color.' 
This  resolution,  he  said,  had  been  taken  in  order  that  they  and 
their  servants  might  unite  in  the  worship  of  the  same  God.  as 
they  hoped  to  enter  hereafter  together  into  his  everlastiW  kimr- 
dom   If  they  obeyed  his  laws,     I  inquired  whether  Wwould 
not  have  done  more  toward  raising  the  slaves  to  a  footing  of 
equality  m  the  house  of  prayer,  if  they  had  opened  the  Ime 
gaUeries  to  negroes  and  whites.      In  r^ply,  I  was  assured  that, 
in  the  pr«wnt  state  of  social  feeling,  the  colored  people  would 
gain  less  by  such  joint  occupancy,  because,  from  their  habitual 
deference  to  the  whites,  they  would  yield  to  them  aU  the  front 
places.     There  were  few  negroes  present ;  but  I  am  told  that,  if 
1  went  to  the  Baptist  or  Methodist  churches.  I  ^ould  find  the 
gaUeries  quite  fuU.     There  are  several  Sunday  schools  here  for 
negroes,  and  it  is  a  singular  fact  thav.  in  spite  of  the  law  against 
instructmg  slaves,  many  of  the  whiles  have  been  taught  tTread 
by  negro  nurses.     A  large  proporUou  of  the  slaves  and  free 
colored  people  here  are  of  mixed  breed.     The  employment  of 
this  class  as  m-door  servants  in  cities  arises  parUy-from  the  in- 
terest  taken  m  them  by  their  white  parents,  who  have  manu- 
mited  them  and  helped  them  to  rise  in  the  world,  and  partly 
because  the  nch  prefer  them  as  domestic  servants,  for  their  ap. 
CT  l"^""'^    ^^^hle,   ^d    they  are    more    intelligent 
Whether  their  superiority  is  owing  to  physical  causes,  and  that 
share  of  an  European  organization  which  they  inherit  in  right 
of  one  of  their  parents,  or  whether  it  may  be  referred  to  their 
early  mtercourse  and  contact  with  the  whites,-^n  other  words, 
to  a  better  education,— is  still  matter  of  controversy 

Several  Virginian  planters  have  spoken  to  me  of  the  negro 
race  as  naturally  warm-hearted,  patient,  and  cheerful,  grateful 
for  benefits,  and  forgiving  of  injuries.  They  are  also  of  a  reliff. 
lous  temperament  bordering  on  superstition.  Even  those  who 
thmk  they  ought  forever  to  remain  in  servitude,  give  them  a 
chariiclor  which  leads  one  to  the  ifelief  that  steps  ought  W 
ago  to  have  been  taken  toward  their  gradual  emancipating 


■^"  K:^'P"^^l'^J'^'"T^'^^ 


'^1^. 


Chap.  XV.] 


NBGBO  SLAVERY. 


209 


Had  some  legislative  provision  been  made  with  this  view  before 
,  the  annex^ation  of  Texas,  a  period  being  fixed  after  which  all  the* 
children  bom  m  this  state  should  be  free,  that  new  territo«^ 
would  have  afforded  a  useful  outlet  for  the  black  population  of 
Virginia,  and  whites  would  have  supplied  the  vacancies  which 
are  now  fiUed  up  by  the  breeding  of  negroes.^    In  the  absence 
of  such  enactments,  Texas  prolongs  the  duration  of  negro  riavery 
in  Virgmia,  aggravating  one  of  its  worst  consequences,  the  in- 
ternal  slave  trade,  and  keeping.up  the  price  of  negroes  at  home. 
They  are  now  selling  for  500,  750.  and  1000  dollars  each,  ac 
cording  to  their  qualifications.     There  are  ^always  dealers  at 
Richmond,  whose  business  it  is  to  collect  slaves  for  the  southern 
market ;  and,  untd  a  gang  is  ready  to  start  for  tMe  south,  thev 
are  kept  here  well  fed,  and  as  cheerful  as  possible.     In  a  court 
of  the  jail,  where  they  are  lodged,  I  see  them  ev^^fr^^y  amusing 
themselves  by  playing  at  quoits.     How  much  this  tJaffio  is  aS 
horred,  even  by  those  who  encourage  it,  is  shown  by  the  low  social 
position  held  by  the  dealer,  even  when  he  has  made  a  large  for- 
tune.      When  they  conduct  gangs  of  fifty  slaves  at  a  time  across 
the  mountams  to  the  Ohio  river,  they  usually  manacle  some  of  the 
men.  but  on  reaching  the  Ohio^err^ey  have  no  longer  any 
lear  of  their  attempting  an  escape,  and  they  then  unshackle  them. 
Ihat  the  condition  of  slaves  in  Virginia  is  steadily  improving, 
all  here  seem  agreed.     One  of  the  greatest  evil»  of  the  system 
IS  the  compulsory  separation  of  members  of  the  same  family 
Since  my  arrival  at  Richmond,  a  case  has  come  to  my  knowl^ 
edge,  of  a  negro  who  petitioned  a  rich  individual  to  purch^ 
him,  because  he  was  going  to  be  sold,  and  was  in  danger  of  beinff 
^nt  to  New  Orleans,  his  wife  and  chUd  remaining  in  Virginia. 
mt  such  instances  are  far  less  common  than  would  be  imagined .• 
owing  to  the  kind  feeling  of  the  southern  planters  toward-^their 
"  own  people, '    as   they  call   them.     Even  in  extreme  cases, 
where  the  property  of  an  insolvent  is  brought  to  the  hammer 
public  opinion  acts  as  a  powerful  check  against  the  parting  of 
kindred.     We  heard  of  two  recent  cases,  one  in  which  the  pa- 
rents  were  put  u^  without  their  children,  and  the  mother  beL  ' 
itt^  tears,  thi  mrfl  ^r.i»M  W/?   4:n  *t_   j^^,-  -  — ;   -- ,  .  ■*       ^°^— 


«r  tears,  no  one  wouH^TIiJ  till  the  dealer^  Ihe  chil(fcn  up 


{.^^-^i^-iT-v '  ,xm 


no 


^ 


KINDNESS  TO  NEGROES. 


[Ohap.  XV. 


also.     They  then  so  d  very  weU.     Another,  where  the  dealer 
was  compelled,  m  like  manner,   to  sell  a  father  and  8;,n  to- 
gether      I  learned  with  pleasure  an  anecdote,  from  undoubted 
authority  very  characteristic  of  the  indulgence  of  owners  of  the 
higher  class  of  society  here  toward  their  slaves.     One  of  the 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  at  Richmond,  having  four  or  five 
supernumerary  negroes  in  his  establishment,  proposed  to  them  to 
go  to  his  plantation  in  the  country.     As  they  had  acquired  town 
habits,  they  objected,  and  begged  him  instead  to  look  out  for  a 
good  master  who  would  carry  them  to  a  city  farther  south,  where 
they  might  enjoy  a  warm  climate.     The  judge  accordingly  made 
his  arrangements,  and,  for  the  sake  of  securing  the  desM  con- 
di  ions,  was  to  receive  for  each  a  price  below  their  market  value. 
Just  as  they  were  about  to  leave  Richmond  for  Louisiana  one 
of  the  women  turned  faint-hearted,  at  which  all  the  rest  lost 
"Z^"i  1  *^'''  ^"'"^  "^  P^'^^^^  attachments  are  very  stro^ 
^irt'nfV  *^  s^m  always  ready  to  migrate  cheerfuUy  to  2v 
part  of  ^the  world  with  their  owners.     The  affair  ended  in  the 
good-natured. judge  having  to  repurchase  them,  paying  the  dif- 

tLrth      P"7,?^*"T  ?^  ^"™  ^^^"^  upon  Torlch,  ^d 
what  they  would  have  fetched  at  an  auction 

Great  sacrifices  are  often  made  from  a  sense  of  duty  bv  re- 
taimng  possession  of  inherited  estates,  which  it  would  be  most 

they  feel  it  would  be  wrong  to  abandon  the  slaves  to  an  un- 
known  purchaser.  We  became  acquainted  with  the  family  of  a 
widow,  who  had  SIX  daughters  and  no  son  to  take  on  himsdf  th^ 
management  of  a  plantation,  always  a  responsible,  and  often  a 
r\t  'f  l^^'^'-'^^-^-     It  was  felt  by  dl  the  relativ     and 

re'lt^'  :  "f.r''  ^""^^'^  *'"*  ^^«  P-P«^y'  situated  ba 
remote  part  of  the  country,  near  the  sea,  should  L  sgld,  in  order 

that^  the  young  ladies  and  their  mother  should  have  the  beiiefit 
of  sopiety  m  a  large  town.  They  wished  it  themselves,  beLg 
n  very  moderate  circumstances,  but  were  withheld  by  conscien- 
tious motives  f«,m  leaving  a  large  body  of  dependents, Thorn 
they  had  known  from  childhood,  and  who  could  scarcely  hope  S 
be  treated  with  the  same  indulgence  by  «tr«ng.^  ^    ^  ^" 


t  , 


Chap.  XV.] 


COAL  OF  OOLITIC  PERIOD. 


211 


I  had  stoppedN^Richmond  on  my  way  south,  for  the  sake  of 
explormg  geological^  some  coal  mines,  distant  about  thirteen 
miles  from  the  city  to  the  westward.     Some  of  the  largest  and 
most  productive  of  these,  situated  in  Chesterfield  County!  belong 
to  an  English  company,  and  one  of  them  was  under  the  manage- 
ment of  Mr.  A.  F.  Giflbrd.  formerly  an  officer  in  the  British 
army,  and  marned  to  a  Virginian  lady.      At  their  agreeable 
residence    near  the  Blackheath  mines,  we  wfte  received  most 
kmdiy  and  hospitably.     On  our  road  from  Richmond,  we  massed 
many  fields  which  had  been  left  fallow  for  years,  after  having 
been  exhausted  by  a  crop  of  tobacco.     The  whole  country  wm 
covered  with  snow,  and,  in  the  pine  forests,  the  tall  trunks  of  the 
Jrees  had  a  white  coating  on  their  windward  side,"as  if  one  half 
had  been  painted.     I  persevered,  nevertheless,  in  my  examination 
ot  the  mines,  for  my  underground  work  was  not  impeded  by  the 
weather,  and  I  saw  so  much  that  was  new,  and  of  high  scientific 
mterest  m  this  coal-field,  that  I  returned  the  following  spring  t5 
complete  my  survey".     '      .  ore 

There  are  two  regions  in  the  state  of  Virginia  (a  country 
about  equal  m  area  to  the  w^e  of  England  proper),  in  which 
productive  coal-measures  occur.     In  one  of  these  which  may  be 
called  the  western  coal-field,  the  strata  belong  to  the  ancient 
carbomferous  group,  characterized  by  fossil  plants  of  the  same 
genera,  and,  to  a  great  extent,  the  same  species,  as  those  found 
in  the  ancient  coal-measures  of  Europe.     The  other  one,  wholly 
disconnected  m  its  geographical  and  geological  relations,  is  found" 
to  the  east  of  the  Appalachian  Mountains,  in  the  middle  of  that^ 
granitic  region,  sometimes  called  the  Atlantic  Slope.*     In  con- 
sequence of  the  isolated  position  of  these  eastern  coar-beds,  the 
lowest  of  which  rest  imn^ediately  on  the  fundamental  granite 
while-the  uppermost  ar«  not  covered  by  any  overlying  fossiliferous 
iormations,  we  have  scarcely  any  means  of  determining  their 
relative  age,  except  by  the  characters  of  their  included  organic 
remains.     The  study  of  these,  induced  Professor  W.  B.  Rogers 
m  his  memoir,  published  in  1842,t  to  declare  his  opinion  that 

Ton  1.  and  u.  p.  92.  f  Trans,  of  American  tJeoldgists,  p.  298!^ 


#k 


■-■Ss. 


■  ^i^«fy^  " 


21S 


"UPRIGHT  FOSSIL  TEBB8. 


[Ohap.  xr. 


thig  coal  was  of  newer  date  than  that  of  the  Appalachians,  and 
was  about  the  age  of  the  Oolite-or  Lias,  a  conclusion  which,  after 
a  careful  examination  of  the  evidence  on  the  spot,  and  of  all  the 
organic  remains  which  I  could  collect,  appears  to  me  to  come 
very  near  the  truth.     If  we  embrace  this  conclusion,  these  rocks 
are  tCe  only  ones  hitherto  known  in  all  Canada  and  the  United 
States,  which  we  can  prove,  by  their  organic  remains,  to  be  of 
contemporaneous  origin  with  the  Oolitic  or  Jurassic  formation  of 
Eurppe.     The  tract  of  countiry  dccupied  by  the  crystalline  rocks, 
granite,  gneiss,  hornblende-schist,  and  others,  which  runs  parallel 
to  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and  between  them  and  the  sea,  is 
in  this  part  of  Virginia  about  seventy  miles  broad.     In  the  midst 
of  this  area  occurs  the  coal- field  alluded  to,  twenty-six  miles  long, 
aiid  varying  in  breadth  from  four  to  twelve  miles.     The  James 
river  flows  through  the  middle  of  it,  about  fifteen  miles  from  its 
northern  extremity,  while  the  Appomattox  river  traverses  it  near 
its  southern  borders.     The  beds  lie  in  a  trough  (see  section,  fig. 
4,  p.  213),  the  lowest  of  them  usually  highly  inclined  where  they 
crop  out  along  the  margin  of  the  basin,  while  the  strata  higher 
in  the  series,  occupying  the  central  parts  of  the  area,  and  which 
are  devoid  of  organic  remains  and  of  coal,  are  nearly  horizontal. 

A  great  portion  of  these  coal-measures  consists  of  quartzose 
sandstone  and  coarse  grit,  entirely  composed  of  the  detritus  of  the 
neighboring  granitic  and  syenitic  rocks.  Dark  carbonaceous 
shales  and  clays,  occasionally  charged  with  iron  ores,  abound  in 
the  proximity  of  the  coal-seams,  and  numerous  impressions  of 
plants,  chiefly  ferns  and  Zamites,  are  met  with  in  shales,  to- 
gether with  flattened  and  prostrate  stems  of  Calamites  and  Equi- 
sertum.  These  last,  however,  the  Calamites  and  Eqiiisetum,  are 
very  commonly  met  with  in  a  vertical  position,  more  or  less  com- 
pressed perpendicularly.  I  entertain  no  doubt  that  the  greatbr 
number  of  these  plants  standing  erect  in  the  beds  above  and... 
between  the  seams  of  coal  which  I  saw  at-  points  many  miles  • 
distant  from  each  other,  have  grown -in  the  places  where  they 
are  now  buried  in  sand  and  mud,  and  this  fact  implies  the 
gradual  accumulation  of  the  coal-measures  during  a  slow  and 
-igpeatfjd  subsidence  of  t.h,fl-whote:.rcgion.^^^--j^ - - 


^"^"^  ^^J  THICKNESS  OF  OOALlSBAMS. 


913 


allitl^**  "T"*'  °'  *^"  «*•  """'""y  "fe^W*  to  two  nearly 

W   ^r  ■"*  i*  "  •""'^'l  "«'«  *»*"■»  tho  centres  A-^^f 
time  overspread  by  a  deep  covering  „f  gravel  with  red  and  yeiW 


Sea 
level.' 


A.  Onnita,  gneisa,  be 
C.  Tertiary  strata. 


-  B.  Coal-measure;.      ^ 
D.  D(dft  or  ancieM  (Eluvium. 


Clay  coneeaimg  the  subjacent  formation  from  view,  so  that  the 
structure  of  the  region  could  not  be  mad.  out  without  difficulty 
kl  Z  Tl"'  ^^^""^^o^'  It  will  be  seen  by  the  section 
that  the  tertiary  strata  first  make  their  appearance  at  Rich- 
mond  about  thirteen  miles  from  the  eastern  outcrop  of  the  coal. 


-^-^-^^^beda^tac^  faiths  ^^^  ^^^^^  p^^ 


• 


y 


\4 


j>,. 


'^S-tC  tJikl^^^S, 


-\ 


'  ^     f^ '    -■*»**'  ,-v  t  |wJ 


ABLE  STRUCTURE  OF  COAL.        [Chap.  XV. 


of  tlM  ooAi-meMrallp,  and  cdnflequently  oome  up  to  the  surface  all 
round  ihe  margin  of  the  basin.     As  the  dip  is  usually  at  a  con- 
nder&ble  angl6,  vertical  shafts,  from  400  to  800  feet  deep,  ^x».  * 
required  to  reach  the  great  seam,  at  the  distance  of  a  few  hun-   ^^ 
dred  ymtdt  inside  the  edge  of  the  basin     It  is  only,  therefore,  along 
a  narK«#  baJaid  of  country  that  the  oolM  can  crop  out  naturally, 
and  even  here  it  is  rarely  exposed,  and  only  where  a  river  or 
valley  has  cut  through  the  superficial  drift,  often  thirty  or  forty 
feet  thick.     The  principal  coal-seam  accurs  in  greatest  force  at 
Blackheath  and  the  adjoining  parts  of  Chesterfield  coimty,  where 
the  coal  is  for  the  most  part  very  pure,  and  actually  attains  the 
unusual  thickness  of  between  thirty  or  forty  fpet.     I  wafi  not  a, 
little  surprised,  when  I  descended,  with  Mr.  GifTord,  a  shaft  800 
feet  deep,  to  find  myself  in  a  chamber  more  than  forty  feet  high, 
caused  by  the  removal  of  the  coal.      Timber  props  of  great 
strength  are, required  to  support  the^robf,  and  although  the  use  of 
wood  is  lavish  here,  as  in  most  parts  of  the  United  States,  the 
strong  props  are  seen  to  bend  under  the  incumbent  weight.    This 
great  seam  is  sometimes  parted  from  thfe  fundamental  granite  by 
an  inch  or  two  of  shale,  which ^ems  to  jbive  constituted  the  soil 
on  which  the  plants  grew.     At  somefl^nts  where  the  granite 
floor  touches  the  coal,  "the  contact  may  have  been  occasioned  by 
subsequent  disturbances,  for  the  rocks  are  fractured  and  shifted  in- 
many  places.     This  more  modem  coal,  as  well  as  that  of  New- 
castle, and  other  kinds  of  more  ancient  date,  exhibits  under  the 
microscope  distinct  evidence  of  vegetable  structure,  consisting  in 
this  case  ^principally  of  parallel  fibers  or  tubes,  whose  walls  Me 
pierced  -v*^  circular  or  elongated  holes.    See  fig.  5.  B,  and  f] 
By  analysis  it  is  found  that  so  fjsCr  as  relates  to  t"he  prop9rtionB 
of  carbon  and  hydrogen,  the  compositiott,of  this  coal  is  j^®^^^ 
with  that  of  ordinary  specimens  of  tM' most  ancient, 
Am^ioa  and  Europe,  although  the  latter  has  been  deri'i^a-TK)m 
an  assemblage'of  plants  of  very  distinct  species.     The  bituminous 
coal,  for  ex^B^4e,  of  the  Ohio  coal^eld,  and  that  of  Alabama, 
-yields  the  siti(lK|teijient8. 

For  "^^ny^^^lM  ^^  of  ^ew  York  and  Phikdielphia  hav« 
been  B^pplied  l|p||^M|^lighte  their  streets  anc(  houses,  from 


*/ 


Vegetam  Strufture  of  Mineral  Charcoal  from  Clover-hill  Mine,,  Virgi;^. 

?>?•!  *f^*f .  ^^*<^^*^«**h  ™ne8,  and  the  annual  quantity^taken  bv 
Philadelphia  alone,  has  of  late  years  amounted'to  lO.MO  tons 
We  might  have  expected,  therefore/that  there  would  be  danger 
of  the  disengagement  of  inflammable  gases  from  coal  containinij 
80  much  volatUe  matter.'  Accordingly,  here,  as  in  the  English 
coal-pits,  fatal,  explosions  have  sometimes  occurred.  One  of  these 
happened  at  Blaekheath,  in  1839.  by  which  forty-five  negroes 
and  two  white  overseers  lost  their  lives ;  and  another  almost  as 
serious,  so  Jately  as  the  year  1844. 

Before  I  examined  this  regioi!,  I-  was  told'  that  a  strange 
anonialy  occurred  in  it,  for  there  wer^  beds  of  coke  overlyi^ 
:^oth«i#  consisting  of  bituminous  gpal.  I  found,  on  visiting  tlw 
various  localities  of  this  natural  coke,  that  it  was  caused  bythe 
vicinity  or  contact  of  volcanic  rocks  (greenstone  and  basalt) 
which,  coming  up  through  the  granite,  intersect  the  coal- 
measures,  or  sometimes  make'their  way  laterally  between  two 
strata,  appearing  as  a  conformable  mass.  As  in  the  Durham 
coal-field  m  England  (in  the  Haswell  collieries,  for  example),  the 


■*  ^ 


the  gaseoTis^matter,  and,  where 


■/I 


-w. 


tw 


MODERN  ANI^  ANCIlilBT  CO^L-FIELDS.      [Chap.  XV. 


it  overlies  it,  has  deprived  tHe  upper  coal  of  its  volatile  ingre- 
dients, whil0  its  influence  has  not  always  extended  to  lower 
seams.  In  sonoie  spots,  the  conversion  of  coal  into  coke  seems 
to  have  been  brought  about,  not  so  much  by  the  heating  agency 
of  the  intrusive  basalt,  as  by  its  mechanical  effect  in  breaking  up 
and  destroying  thie  integrity  of  the  beds,  and  rendering  them 
'^permeable  to  water,  thereby  facilitating  the  escape  of  the  gases 
N  of  decomposing  coal. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  observe  that  I  was  much  struck  with 
the  general  similurity  of  this  more  modern  or  Oolitic  coal-field, 
and  those  of  ancient  or  Paleozoic  date  in  England  and  in  Europe 
generally.     I  jwra^  especially  reminded  of  the  carboniferous  rocks 
near  St.  Etienne,  in  France,  which  I  visited  in  1843.     These 
also  rest  on  granite,  and  consist  of  coarse  grits  and  sandstiMie 
derived  from  the  detritus  of  granite.     In  both  ooal-fieldt,'ihe 
French   and   the   Virginian,  upright   Calamites   abound ;    fossil 
plants  are  met  with  in  both,  almost  to  the  exclusion  of  other 
organic  remains,  shells  especially  being  absent.     The  character 
of  the  coal  is  similar,  but  in  the  richness  and  thickness  of  the 
seams  the  Virginian  formation  is  pre-eminent.     When  we  behofd 
phenomena  so  identical,  repeated  at  times  so  remote  in  the  earth's 
history,  and  at  periods  when  such  very  distinct  forms  of  vegeta- 
^on  flourishj^d,  we  may  derive- from  the  fact,  a  useful  caution,  in 
TOgard  to  certain  popular  generalizations  respecting   a  peculiar 
state  of  the  globe  during  the  remoter  or  the  two  epochs  alluded 
4o.     Some  geologists,  for  example,  have  supposed  an  atmosphere 
densely  charged  with  carbonic  acid  to  be  necessary  to  explain  ' 
the  origin  of  coal — an  atmofiphere  so  unlike  the  present,  as  to  be 
«i#  unfit  for  the  existence  of  air-breathing,  vertebrate  animals  ;  but 
tiiis  theory  they  will  hardly  be  prepared  to  extend  to  so  modem 
an  era  as  the  Oolitic  or  Triassic*  -' 

During  my  visit  to  one  of  the  coal-pits,  an  English  overseer, 
who  was  superintending  the  works,  told  me  that  within  his 
memory  thete  had  been  a  great  improvement  in  the  treatment 


»» 


•  ^t  a  paper  («  tliis  coal-fleW,  by  the  author,  Quarterly  Journal  Geolog. 
Soc.,  Aii]B|tist,  18f7,  vol.  iii.  p.  261,  and  an  aocorapanying  memoir,  desorip- 


A 

1                  r 

• 

''?  :; 

^ 

-- 

/ 

■  *?-. 

^. 

-  '  c  > 

Eft' 

.•Hk^M 

£,f4jL    »            *-  .   ■     . 

• 

m 

^^Jmk 

m 

• 

•^•4 


H^^^^^^t  '  ■ 


«"      ■tV^" 


Chap.  XV.] 


NEGROES  IN  THE  MINES. 


217 


of  the  negroes.     Some  years  ago,  a  planter  came  to  him  with  a 
refractory  slave,  and  asked  him  to  keep  him  underground  for  a 
year  by  way  of  punishment,  saying,  that  ;io  pay  would  be  re- 
quired for  hi*  hire.     The  overseer  retorted  that  he  would  be  no 
man's  jailer.     The  British  oompany-at  Blackheath  having  re- 
solved  not  to  employ  any  slaves,  and  Mr.  GifTord,  having  engaged 
130  fwse  iMgrocs,  foodd  he  could  preserve  good  discipline  without 
•  tJo^ral  IJlttishtteat ;  and  h<s  not  only  persuaded  several  newly 
amved  laborers  fiom  England  to  work  with  the  blacks,  but  old 
Virginians,  also,  of  the  white  race,  engaged  themselves,  although 
their  oouAtrymen  looked  down  upon  them  at  first  for  associating 
with  fettch  (Jompaniotti.     Th«y  confessed  that,  for  a  time,  '« they 
felt  very  awkward,"  but  it  Was  not  Jong  before  the  proprietors 
pf  other  Kioines  followed  the  example  which  had  been  set  them 


**:■  t 


^ 


.^...,. 


CHAPTEE  XVI. 

of  ril^^f  ^  ^T'^^r'  and  Jmithfield.-Spani8h  Moss,  and  Uses 
Whiles  T  aw "«  ~  ^"^■^^g™  l^^^S-  -  Passage  from  M^lattoes  to 
Tte -i^detTinrZ  1  'T"^'.^  ^''^  Blacks.-Dispute  with  Massachu- 
F^ilT  ^  u    xT*''^*''°"'~^°''®™«««®«~WarPamc.--Anti.Enfflish 

k^s^  DrBlh^  Newspaper  Press. -National  Arbitration  of  the  Amer- 

r-H^ttleraT:!?:^^^^^^^^  of  Spe. 

i)ec  23  1845^The  monotony  of  the  scenery  in  the  prinei- 
pal  routeiifrom  the  northern  to  the  southern  states  is  easily 
understood  by  a  geologist,  for  the  line  of  railroad  happens  to  run 

tTth  tL  V        "I  °"  ^  ''^^"y  '''^''''  ^-'  *h^Bir  junction 

^o^  he  granitic  rocks  T^ke  any  road  in  a  transverse  direction 
from  the  sea  coast  to  the  AUeghanies.  and  the  traveler  will  meet 
With  the  greatest  variety  m  the  scenery  *  In  passing  over  the 
tertiary  sands  and  clays,  we  see  Pine  Barrens  where  the  soil  is 
sandy,  and  a  ^wamp.  or  cane-brake,  where  the  argillaceous  beds 

Zl  T  '"'^"'\  ^^'  ''''^'  '^^^^^^^  °f  aU  Wders  and 
stones,  such  as  are  observable  almost  every  where  in  the  New 

iwTherr^"',''7  J^'"'  ''  ^  "^^^^  ^-^^^^^  P«-"ar- 
ity  of  these  southern  lowlands.      Such  erratic  blocks  and  Wders 

arv  JJ^';^  ™^*'^«/°'»fi'»«d  in  the  north  to  the  granitic  or  second- 
axy  formations,  for  some  of  the  lafgest  of  them,  huge  fragments 
of  granite,  for  example,  twenty  feet  in  diameter,%est  !n  the 
newer  tertia^r  deposits  of  the  island  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  off 
the  coast  of  Massachusetts.  -  ^ 

After  leaving  Richmond.  I  remarked  that  the  railway  from 

stopped.     I  was  told,  m  explanation,  that  this  line  would  soon 

*  See  nay  "  Travels  in  North  Amerioft."  vol  i  n  0<» .  .n^  ♦!..  »«i     x 
geologicftl  map,  vol.  «  ^    ^'  ''  P'  ^^  >  ^^  the  oolored 


- .  , .  ^ . 


Chap.  XVI.] 


"t-i 


WILMINGTON. 


.A. 


■> 


219 


be  superseded,  or  nearly  so,  by  a  moye  inland  road  now  makinff 
through  Raleigh.     We  reached  Warnington  without  much  d^ 
lay,  m  spite  of  the  ice  on  the  rails,  and  the  running  of  our  loco- 
motive  engine  against  a  cow.     On  approaching  that  town,  we 
were  glad  to  see  that  the  ground  was  not  covered  with  snow  as 
every  where  to  the  northward,  and  our  eyes  were  refreshed  by 
the  sight  of  verdure,  caused  by  the  pines,  and  by  two  kinds  of 
evergreen  oaks,  besides  magnolias,  and  an  undergrowth  of  holly 
and^  kaJmia.     In  the  streets  and'  suburbs  of  Wilmington,  the 
Pnde-of-India  tree  {Melia  azedarach)  is  vei^  cdnspicuous,  some 
of  them  twenty-five  years  old,  having  survived  many  a  severe 
frost,  especially  that  of  the  autumn  of  the  present  year,^the  se- 
verest smce  1835.     There  are  also  some  splendid  live  oaks  here 
{Quercus  mr^),  a  tree  of  very  slow  growth,  which  furnishes 
the  hnest  timber  for  ship-building. 

We  reached  Wilmington  after  the  steamboat  foi  Charleston 
had  departed,  and  I  was  hot  sorry  to  have  a  day  to  collect  ter- 
tiary fossils  m  the  cliffs  near  the  town.  The  streets  which  had 
just  been  laid  m  ashes  when  we  were  here  four  years  ago  are 
now  rebuilt ;  but  there  has  been  another  fire  this  year,  imputed 
very  generally  to  incendiaries,  because  it  broke  out  in  many 
places  at  once.  There  had  been  a  deficiency  of  firemen,  owing 
to  the  state  having  discontinued  the  immunity  from  mUitia  duty 
formerly  conceded  to  those  who  served  the  fire-engines.  The 
city,  however,  has  now  undertaken  to  find  substitutes  for  young 
men  who  will  join  the  fire  companies.  A  lady  told  me  that, 
when  the  conflagration  burst  forth  very  suddenly. 'she  was  with 
a  merchant  whose  house  was  not  insured,  and.  finding  him  panic- 
struck,  and  incapable  of  aqting  for  himself,  she  had  "uelected  Ms 
ledgers  and  other  valuables,  and  was  carrying  ihem  away  to  her 
own  house ;  but  on  the  way  the  civic  guard  stopped  her  in  the 
dark,  and,  suspecting  her  to  be  a  person  of  color,  required  her  to 
show  her  pass.  She  mentioned  this  incidentally,  as  a  serious 
cause  of  delay  when  time  was  precious ;  but  it  brought  home 
forcibly  to  our  minds  the  extraordinary  precautions  which  one 
hdf  thepopulation  hen»  think  it  necessary  iq  takft  ngftiimt  thft 
other  hair 


\  920 


<» 


SMITHFIBLD,  ^ORTH  CAROLINA.         [Ohap.  XVI. 


■> 


A  large  export  of  turpentine  is  the  chief  business  of  this  port, 
and  gashes  are  seen  out  in  the  bark  of  the  pines  in  the  neighbor- 
ing forest,  from  which  resin  exudes.  The  half  decayed  Wood  of 
these  resinous  pines  forms  what  ii^called  light  wood,  burning 
with  a  most  brilliant  flame,  and  often  used  for  candles,  as  well 
as  for  reviving  the  fire.  A  North  Carolinian  is  said  to  migrate 
most  unwillingly  to  any  new  region  where  this  prime  luxury  of 
life  is  wanting. 

When  we  sailed  for  Charleston,  the  steamer  first  proceeded 
thirty  miles  to  the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear  river,  and  then  an- 
chored there  for  several  hours  at  a  village  called  Smithfield,  m 
North  Carolina.     Here  I  strolled  along  the  shore,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  found  myself  in  a  wild  region,  out  of  sight  of  all  human 
habitations,  and  every  sign  of  the  work  of  man's  hands.     The 
^1,  composed  of  white  quartzose  sand,  was  hopelessly  barren. 
Coming  to  a  marsh,  I  put  up  many  peewits,  which  flew  round 
me,  uttermg  a  cry  resembling  that  of  our  European  species.    The 
evergreen  oaks  round  the  marsh  were  hung  with  Spanish  mow, 
or  Tillandsia,'"the  pods  of  which  are  now  full  of  downy  seeds 
This  plant  is  not  a  parasite  like  the  misletoe,  of  which  a  species 
18  also  common  on  the  trees  here,  but  simply  supports  itself  on 
trees,  without  sending  any  roots  into  them,  or  drawing  nourish- 
ment from  their  juices.     It  is  what  the  botanists  call  an  epiphyte 
and  15  precisely  the  same  species  (TiUandsia  umeoules),  which 
IS  also  common  in  Brazil ;  so  that  as  we  journey  southward,  this 
flowcnng  epiphyte,  together  with  the  palmetto,  or  fan-palm,  may 
be  regarded  as  marking  an  approach  toward  a  more  tropical  veg- 
etation.      When  dried,  the  outer  soft  part  of  the  Tillandsia  de- 
cays and  leaves  a  woody  fiber  in  the  middle,  much  resembling 
horse-hair  in  appearance,  and  very  clastic.     It  is  used  in  the 
United  States,  and  exported  to  Liverpool,  for  stuffing  mattresses 
In  preparing  it  they  first  bury  the  moss,  and  then  take  it  up 
again  when  the  exterior  coating  has  rotted  off:     The  birds  also 
select  only  the  woody  fiber  erf  the  withered  or  dead  stems  for 
building  their  nests.  * 

On  the  morning  of  Christmas-day,  we  reached  Charleston,  S.C 
and  found  the  i^t«Ho^o^theEp^Bc6prohu^c!^o^^t.  Philip" 


*' 


/  1 


Chap.  XVI.] 


CHARLESTON. 


221 


adorned  with  evergreens  and  with  artificial 'flowers,  in  imitation 
of  magnolias  and  asters.  During  the  whole  service  the  boys  in 
the  streets  were  firing  pistols  and  letting  off  fireworks,  which  re- 
minded me  of  the  liberal  expenditure  of  gunpowder  indulged  in 
by  the  Roman  Catholics  in  Sicily,  when  celebrating  Christmas 
in  the  churches.  I  once  heard  a  file  of  soldiers  at  Girgenti  fire 
off  their  muskets  inside  a  church.  Here  at  least  it  was  on  the 
outside  ;  but,  as  it  was  no  part  of  the  ceremony,  it  was  a  greater 
interruption  to  the  service.  We  saw  some  of  the  white  race  very 
shabbily  dressed,  and  several  mulattoes  in  the  church,  separated 
from  the  whites,  in  fashionable  attire,  which  doubtless  they  were 
fully  entitled  to  wear,  being  much  richer.  Ihstead  of  growing 
reconciled  to  the  strong  line  of  demarkation  drawn  between  the 
two  races,  it  appears  to  me  more  and  more  unnatural,  for  I  some- 
times discover  that  my  American  companions  can  not  tell  ihe, 
without  inquiry,  to  which  race  certain  colored  individuals  belong  ; 
and  'some  English  men  and  women,  of  dark  complexion,  might 
occasionally  be  made  to  feel  awkward,  if  they  were  traveling  with 
us  here.  On  one  occasion,  the  answer  to  my  query  was,  "  If  I 
could  get  sight  of,  his  thumb  nail  I. could  tell  you."  It  appears 
that  the  white  crescent,  at  the  base  of  the  nail,  is  wholly  want- 
ing in  the  full  blacks,  and  is  that  peculiarity. which  they  acquire 
the  last  as  they  approximate  by  intermixture,  in  the  course  of 
generations,  toward  the  whites. 

I  have  just  seen  the  following  advertisement  in  a  newspaper  : 
— "  Runaway. — Reward.  A  liberal  reward  will  be  given  for 
the  arrest  of  a  boy  named  Dick.  He  is  a  bright  mulatto-— so 
bright,  that  he  can  readily,  as  he  has  done  before,  pas9  himself 
for  a  white.  He  is  about  thirty  years  of  age,"  &c.  Another  ad- 
vertisement of  a  runaway  negro,  states,  •*  his  color  is  moderated 
by  in-door  work." 

So  long  as  the  present  system  continues,  the  idea  of  fatufe 
amalgamation  must  be  repugnant  to  the  dominant  race.  They 
would  shrink  from  it  jiist  as  a  European  noble  would  do,  if  he 
were  told  th/t  his  grandchild  or  great  grandchild  -yirould  inter- 
marry  with  the  direct  descendant  of 'one  of  his  nwnial  )iierv»fit#r 


That  the  alleged  personal  dislike  of  the  two  races  toward  each 


•%s"  ■ 


:sfV!^'k^^r^^r^i^'i^pff^''^sf'^'yi^-'  ^f^^  5*^^B'"''t?%»^ 


222 


DISPUTE  WITH  MASSACHUSETTS.       [Chap.  XVI. 


? 


^' 


other,  so  much  insisted  upon  by  many  writers,  must  arise  chiefly 
from  prejudice   seems  proved,  not  only  by  the  mixture  of  the 

wl'n  ^W  ^  n  T"^"'  ^  ""^'^  ^"  "^  '^'  Southern  w^^en, 
when  they  are  01,  have  three  or  four  female  slaves  to  sleep  on 
the  floor  of  their  sick  room,  and  often  consign  their  babes  to  black 
nurses  to  be  suckled. 

That  the  attainder  of  blood  should  outlast  aU  trace  of  African 
feah.res,  betrays  a  feeling  aUied  to  the  most  extravagant  aristo" 
crat.0  pr.de  of  the  feudal  ages,  and  stands  out  in  sinX"  itf 
and  contrast  here  in  the  S4uth,  where  the  whites,  high  and- W 
Hmorant  and  educated.- are  striving  among  themselves  to  mZ 
ta.n  a  standard  of  social  equaUty.  in  defiance  of  all  the  natural 

■  r^Znr^v^t«"r^,""---i»«-»<'C:«! 

of  the  number.     On  their,  landing,  they  were  imm^l^ely  2 

■  TJ       \T'""^  •  '"*  "^  ^™*  Carolina,  nofof  veX  M 
standing      Thp  government  of  Massachusetts,  in  a  state  of  Treat 

Th.s  agent  took  up  h.s  abode  at  the  Charleston  Hotel,  where  we 
a«  now  comfortably  ^tablished.  A  few  diys  after  hi.  arriv^ 
the  hotel  was  surrounded,  to  the  terror  of  all  the  inmates,  by  a 
«»ob  of  ..gentlemen,"  who  were  resolved  to  seize  the  Ne;  En' 
gUnd  envoy      There  is  no  «tyingt..what  extremities  they  would 

?usS  r^'^^l^.  r  *""  ''^•"''  '^»"8l.ter,  a  spirited  g.U  rc^ 
fused  to  leave  the  hotel.  The  excitement  lasted  five  dafs  aid 
ahnost  every  northern  man  i,  Charleston  was  made  to  fJl'hiT 
^f  m  personal  danger.     At  length,  by  the  courage  andsnemi 

of  some  of  the  leading  citizens.  Mr.  H was  enabled  to  ^ 

cape,  and  then  the  most  marked  attentions  were  paid,  and  civ:^ 
fe,  oflered,  to  the  young  lady,  his  daughter,  by  the  f^ihW 

up  this  riot.     The  same  law  has  given  «se  toi|omo  vorv  awk 

r^iloZl*'",  l'*  ""'"■"/  ^■^"»''  --"•  -h- cow 
■;d«.lors^have,  ^.n  hke  manner,  been  imprisoned.     To  obtain  ;«■ 


drf..  for  tho  k:"  ■      :..  3:  .1  ""?"'»"«'      To  obtain  re- 

^^^^^*7'^°'y^^"^0*TSieirumpo88ibre.     The  Federal 


I- ; 


Chap.  XVI.] 


SOCIETY  IN  CHARLESTON. 


323 


Government  is  too  weak  to  enforce  its  authority,  and  the  sover- 
eign state  is  sheltered  under  the  SBgis  of  the  grand  confederacy. 

By  virtue  of  a  similar  Jaw,  also,  in  force  in  Alabama,  the 
crews  oi  several  vessels,  consisting  of  free  blacks,  have  been  com- 
mitted to  jail  at  Mobile,  and  the  captains  obliged  to  pa,y  the  costs, 
and  give  bonds  to  carry  them  away. 

I  asked  a  New  England  merchant^*  who  is  here,  why  the  city 
of  Charleston  did  not  increase,  having  such  a  noble  harbor.  He 
said,  "  There  have  been  several  great  fires,  and  the  rich  are  ab- 
sentees for  half  the  year,  flying  from  malaria.  Besides,  you  will 
find  that  large  cities  do  not  grow  in  slave  states  as  in  the  North. 
Few,  if  any  of  the  ships,  now  in  this  harbor,  belong  to  merchants 
of  Charleston." 

.  We  were  as  much  pleased  with  what  we  saw  of  the  society  of 
Charleston,  during  this  short  visit,  as  formerly,  when  we  were 
here  in  1842.  I  have  heard  its  exclusiveness  much  commented 
on ;  for  there  are  many  families  here,  whose  ancestors  started 
from  genteel  Englidi  stocks  in  Virginia  two  hundred  years  ago, 
and  they  and  some  of  the  eminent  lawyers  and  others,  who,  by 
their  education  and  talents,  have  qualified  themselves  to  be  re- 
ceived into  the  same  circle,  do  not  choose  to  associate  on  intimate 
terms  with  every  one  who  may  happen  to  come  and  settle  in  the 
place.  There  is  nearly  as  wide  a  range  in  the  degrees  of  refine- 
ment of  manners  in  American  as  in  European  society,  and,  to 
counl^rbalance  some  unfavorable  circumstances,  tha  social  system 
has  also  some  advantages,  ,  There  is  too  great  a  predominance 
of  the  mercantile  class,  and  the  democracy  often  selects  rude  and 
■  unpolished  favorites  to  fill  stations  of  power  ;  but  such  men  are 
scarcely  ever  without  some  talent.  On  the  other  hand,  mere 
wealth  is  less  worshiped  than  in  England,  and  there  is  no  rank 
and  title  to  force  men  of  slender^bilities,  and  without  even  agree- 
able manners,  into  good  company,  or  posts  of  political  importance. 

The  treatment  in  the  southern  states  of  governesses,  who 
usually  come  from  the  North  or  from  England,  is  very  kind  and 
considerate.  They  are  placed  on  a  much  greater  footing  of 
equality  with  the  family  in  wliich  they  live^^  than  in  Englajid. 


(\ 


Occasionally  we  find  that  the  mother  of  the  children  has  staid  at 


•■/*^VM|S^-' 


224 


WARrPANia 


CChap.  XVI. 


home,  in  order  that  the  teaaher  may  take  her  turn,  and  go  out  to 
a  party.  This  system  implies  a  great  sacrifice  of  domestic  pri- 
vacy ;  but  when  the  monotony  of  the  daUy  routine  of  lessons  is 
tihuB  relieved  to  the  instructress,  the  pupU  must  ahK>  be  a  gainer. 
Their  salaries  are  from  60  to.  100  guineas,  which  ur  more  than 
they  receive  in  the  northern  states. 

The  negroes  here  have  certainly  not  the  manneiB  of  an  op- 
pressed race.  One  evening,  when  w«  had  gone  out  to  dine  hi 
the  suburbs,  m  a  close  earriag^p,  the  same  coachman  returned  for 
us  at  night  with  an  open  vehicle.  It  was  very  cold,  the  frost 
having  been  more  intense  this  year  than  any  winter  since  1835 
and  I  remonstrated  strongly ;  but  the  black  driver,  as  he  shut 
the  door,  said,  with  a  good-humored  smile,  "that  all  the  other 
carriages  of  his  master  were  engaged;"  and  added.  -Never 
mmd.  It  will  soon  be  over !" 

^  One  of  the  judges  of  the  Admiralty  Court  tells  me  that,  on 
Christmaa  eve,  the  day  we  came  here,  at  nine  o'clock  at  night, 
when  he  was  just  going  to  bed,  an  English  resident  came  to  hin^ 
who^  mmd  was  so  full  of  the  prevailing  war-panic,  that  nothing 
.would  satisfy  hmi  but  the  obtaining  immediate  lett^s  of  natur^ 
ization.      He  seemed  to  think  that  hostihtie.  with  England 
might  breat  out  m  the  course  of  the  night,  and  that,  in^nse- 
quence,  aU  his  property  would  be  confiscated.     Ho  was  accord- 
mgly  «irolled  as  a  citiien,  m  although,"  said  the  judge.  "  we  shaU 
not  gain  much  by  his  courage,  should  we  have  to  defend  Charles- 
ton against  e^  British  fleet."  v^»*4w»- 

Some  months  ago  a  British  post-office  steam-ship  sailed  into 
the  harbor  here,  and  took  soundings  in  various  places,  and  this 
incident  has  given- oflkise  to  many,  although  in  reality  the  aiir- 
vey  was  made  under  the  expectation  that  the  proposed  scheme 
for  extending  the  line  of  British  West  India  mail-steamers  along 
this  coast  would  soon  take  efiect. 

I  asked  a  South  Carolinian,  a  friend  of  peace,  and  one  who 
thinks  that  a  war  would  ruin  the  maritime  states,  why  so  many 
oi  the  people  betraye^  much  sympathy  with  the  hostile  demon- 
stration got  up  by  the  press  against  England.  "  We  have  a  set 
of  rlpm«nrn,5uegJi.^,«pii^^.,,^^^^  country,  wfco  Trade  on^^r^ 


Ohap.  XVI.] 


ANTI-ENGLISH  FEELINa 


9S5 


article  called  •  hatred  to  England/  as  so  much  political  capital, 
juat  as  a  southern  merchant  trades  in  cotton,  or  a  Canadian  one 
in  lumber.      They  court  the  multitude  by  hiusterin^  and  by 
threatening  England.     There  is  a  natural  leaning  in  the  South 
toward  Great  Britain,  as  furnishing  a  market  for  their  cotton, 
and  they  are  averse  to  the  high  tariff  ix^uch  the  nOTthemers  have 
inflicted  on  them.     But  these  feelings  are  neutralized  by  a  di»- 
like  of  the  aboUtioniat  party  in  England,  and  by  a  steong  spirit 
of  antagomsm  to  Great  Britain,  whidi  the  Iiidj  bring  ©ver  here. 
All  these  sources  of  estrangement,  however,  are  as  nothing  in 
companson  with  the  baneful  effect  of  yo«r  pres^  and  its  perse ver- 
ing  miarepresentatioo  of  every  thing  American.     Altaost  every 
white  man  here  is  a  reader  and  a  politician,,  and  aU  that  is  said 
against  us  in  England  is  immediately  cited  in  our  newspaper^ 
because  it  serves  to  augment  that  political  capital  of  which  I 
have  %oken."     I  remariced  that  the  nation  and  its  government 
are  not  answerable  fear  all  the  thoughtless  effusions  of  anonymous 
newspaper  writers,  and  that  the  tone  of  the  EngKsh  journals, 
since  the  agitation  of  the  Oregoa  affair,  had  been  temperate, 
guarded,  and  even  courteous.      '« It  is  very^rae,"  he  said  ;   "  the 
Times,  ia  particular,  formerly  one  of  the  most  insolent  and  ma- 
lignant.    Bat  the  change  has  been  too  sudden,  and  the  motive 
too  transparent     The  EngUsh  know  that  the  world  can  never 
suspect  them  of  want  of  courage  if  they  show  a  disinclination  to 
go  to  war.     Not  wishing  to  waste  their  blood  and  treasure  for 
80  useless  a  j^ossession  us  Oregon,  they  are  behaving  like  a  man 
who,  having  insulted  another,  has  no  mind,  when  called  out,  to 
fight  a  duel  about  nothing.     He  therefore  makes  an.  apology. 
But  such  civility  will  not  last,  and  if  the  anonymous  abuse 
habitually  indulged  in  were  not  popular,  it  would  long  ago  have 
ceased." 

A  short  time  after  this  conversation,  I  fell  in  with  a  young 
officer  of  the  American  navy  who  was  wishiiig  for  war,  partly 
fornhe  sake  of  active  service,  but  chiefly  from  intense  nationality-. 
"  We  may  get  the  woilst  of  it,"  he  said,  v  for  a  year  or  tWo,  but 
England  win  not  come  ouj  of ^^^1^^  atriigprlft  without 


being  forced- 


tb  acknowledge  that  she  has  had  to  deal  with  a  firat-rate  instead 


826 


ANTI-ENGLISH  FEELING. 


[Chap.  XVI. 


J 


' 


of  a  second-rate  power."  Soon  after  this  T,  met  an  English 
sportsman,  who  had  been  traveling  for  his  amusement  in  the 
western  states,  where  he  had  been  well  received,  and  liked  the 
people  much,  but  many,  of  them  had  told  him,  "  We  must  have 
a  brush  with  tlie  English  before  they  will  respect  us." 

This  sentiment  is  strong  with  a  certain  party  throughout  the 
Union,  and  would  have  no  existence  if  they^did  not  respect  the  ^ 
English,  and  wish  in  their  hearts  to  have  their  good  opinion. 
It  may  be  well  for  an  old  nation  to  propound  the  docttipe  that 
every  people  o\ig\t  to  rest  on  their  own  dignity,  and  be  satisfied 
with  their  place  in  the  world  without  troubling  themselves  about  * 
what  others  think  of  them,  or  running  the  risk  of  having  applied  ^> 
to  them  the  character  which  Goldsmith  ascribed  to  the  French" 'H 
of  his  times  : —  t 

"  Where  the  weak  soul  within  itself  unblest, 
I  Leans  for  support  upon  another's  breast." 
But  they  whose  title  to  consideration  is  new,  however  real,  will 
rarely  occupy  their  true  place  uiiless  they  take  it ;  whereas  ah 
older  nation  has  seldom  to  assert  its  claims,  and  th^:are  often 
freely  conceded,  long  after  it  has  declined  from  its  former  power. 
To  an  ambitious  nation,  feeding  its  imagination  with  anticipations 
of  coming  greatness,  it  is  peculiarly  mortifying  to  find  that  what 
they  have  actually  achieved  is  barely  acknowledged.    They  grow 
boastful  and  impatient  to  display  their  strength.     When  they 
are  in  this  mood,  no  foreign  country  should  succumb  to  them ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally  impolitic  and  culpable  to 
irritate  them  by  disparagement,  or  by  not  yielding  to  them  their 
proper  place  among  the  nations.     ««  You  class  us,"  'said  one  of 
their  politicians  to  me  in  Washington,  "  with  the  South  American 
repubhcs  ;  your  embassadors  to  us  come  from  Brazil  and  Mexico 
to  Washington,  and  consider  it  a  step  in  their  advancement  to  go 
from  the  United  States  to  Spain,  or  some  second-rate  German 
court,  having  a  smaller  population  than  two  of  our  large  states. 
Yet,  in  reality,  where  is  there  a  people  in  the  world,  except 
France,  with  which  it  so  much  concerns  you  to  live^n  amity  as 
the  United  States,  and  with  what  other  nation^^ve  you  and 
"TOUT  chief  cotonies  so  mlSh  commercial  mtercburse?"  , 


N 


!  '„':M^^ 


Ohap.  XVL] 


DE.  BACHMAN'S  ZOOLOGY. 


287 


-    On  listening  to  comiriaints  against  th'TEn^lish  press,   my 
thoughts  often  recurred  to  Bonaparte's  prosecution  of  the  royafet 
emigrant,  Peltier,  after  the  peace  of  Amiens,  February,  1803 
and  the  appeal  to  the  jury  of  Sir  James  StackiJtosh,  as  counsel 
for  the  defendant,  on  the  want  of  dignity  on  the^^art  of  tjie  First 
Consul,  then  in  reahty  the  most  powerful  sovereign  in'^Europe 
in  persecuting  a  poor,  defenseless,  and  proscribed  exile,  for  abusive 
editorial  articles.     The  court  and  jury  were  probably  of  the  same 
mind;  but  the  verdict  of  guilty  showed  that  they  deemed  it  no 
hght  matter  that  the  peace  of  two  great  nations  should  be  dis- 
turbed, by  permitting  anonymous  libels,  or  a  continued  outpour- 
ing of  invective  and  vituperation,  calculated  to  provoke  thi?  ruler 
of  a  friendly  country.     In  America  the  sovereign  people  »ead 
ev^ry  thing  written  against  them,  as  did  Napoleon  to  the  last,, 
and,  like  him,  with  unmitigated  resentment. 

Before  leaving  Charleston  I  called  on  Dr.  Bachman,  whose- 
acquaintance  I  had  made  in  1842,  and  was  glad  to  see  on  his 
^table  the  first  volumes  of  a  joint  work  by  himself  and  Audubon, 
on  the  lai^  quadrupeds  of;North  America.  These  authors  will 
give  colored  figures  and  descriptions  of  no  less  thari^200  mam- 
malia, exclusive  .ofcetacea,  all  inhabiting  this  continent  between 
the  southern  limits  of  the  Arctic  region  and  the  Tropio  of  Cancer,  ' 
for  they  now  include  Texas  in  the  United  States.  Not  more 
than  seventy-six  species  are  enumerated  by  preceding  naturalists, 
ayd  several  of  these  are  treated  by  Bachman  and  Audubon  not 
as  true  species  but  mere  varieties.  Their  industry,  however,  in 
augmenting  the  hst  of  new  discoveries,  is  not  always  welcomed 
by  the  subscribers,  one  of  whom  has  just  written  to  say,  '«if  you 
describe  so  many  squirrels,  I  can  not  go  on  taking  in  your  book." 
The  tribe  alluded  to  in  this  threatening  epistle,  especially  the 
striped  species,  is  most  fully  represented  in  North  America,  a 
continent  so  remarkable  for  its  extent  of  woodland  and  the  variety 
of  Its  forest  trees.  Yet,  after  traveling  so  much  in  the  woods,  I 
had  never  got  sight  of  more  than  three  or  four  species,  owing,  I 
am  informed,  to  their  nocturnal  habits.  I  regretted  that  I  had 
no^et  seen  the  flying  squirrel  in  motion,  and  was  surprised  to_^ 
Ijear^hat  Dr.  Bachman  had  observed  about  a  hundred  of  them 


^: 


V    . 


228 


DR.  BA0Uim*9  IdOiOGT. 


[Chap.  XVI. 


every  evening,  fpr  several  we^ks,  near  Philadelphia,  on  tw>  tall 
oaks,  m  the  auturaji,  when  aoorna  and  chestnuts  were  abundant 
and  when  they  had  spaie  time  for  pUy.     They  were  amusing 
themselves  by  passing  from  one  tree  to  another,  throwing  them- 
selves  off  from  the  toi^  of  one  of  the  oaks,  and  descending  at  a 
considerable  angle  to  near  the  base  of  the  othAr  j  thm  inclining 
the  head  upward  just  before  reaching  the  ground^  so  as  to  tnrn  and " 
alight  on  the  tomk,  which  they  immediately  climbed  up  taremeat. 
the  same  manoeuvre.  .In  thi«^  way  there  was  ahnost  »^i^tinueua 
flight  of  them  crossing  each  othe*  in  the  aix'between  the  two  tree?. 
I  had  heard  much  of  the  swamp-rabbit,  which  they  hunt  near 
the  coast  m  South  Carolina^andi  Georgia,  and  was  glad  to  see  a 
stuffed  specimen,     It  is  an  aquatic  hare  {Lepus  palmtris),  diving 
most  mmbfy,  and  outswimming  a  Newfoundland  dog. 

Dr.  Bachman  pQinted  out  to  me  ten  genera  of  birds,  and  ten 
of-^quadrupeds.  aU  peculiar  to  North  America,  but  eaoh  repre- 
sented on  the  opposite  side  pf  the  Rocky  Mountains  by  dittiijot 
species.     The  theory  pf  specific  centers,  or  the  doctrine  that  the 
original  stock  of  each  species  of  bird  and  quadruped  originated  in 
one  spot  only,  may  explain  in  a  satisfactory  manner  one  part  of 
this  phenomenpn;  fox  we  may  assume  that  a  lofty  chain  of 
mountams  opposed  a  powerful  barrier  to  migration,  and  that  the 
mountaina  weje  more  ancient  than  the  introduction  of  these  par- 
ticular quadrupeds  and  birds  into  the  planet.    But  the  limitation 
ol  pecuUar  generic  types  to  certain  geographical  areas,  now  ob, 
served  in  so  many  parts  of  the  globe,  points  to  some  other  and 
higher  law  governing  the  creation  of  species  itself,  which  in  the  ^ 
present  state  of  science  is  inscrutable  to  us,  and  may.  perhaps 
remam  a  mystery  forever.     The  adaptation  of  peculiar  forms' 
mstmcts,  quahties,  and  organizations  to  the  present  geography 
and  climate  of  a  region,  may  be  a  part  only  of  the  condition!  ' 
which  govern  m  every  case  the  relations  of  the  animate  beinM 
to  their  ^habitations.     The  ^t  condition  and  changes  of  the 
globe  and  its  inhabitants,  throughout  the  whole  period  when  th« 
different  beings  were  entering,  each  in  succession,  upon  the  scene, 
and   all  the  futuye  conditions  and  changes  to  the  end  of  vast  " 
periods,  duyJBg  which  they  nifly  \m  dpHtinpd  to^«dat,  ought  u>  b» 


'SKT.       ;^-^'   !'.■»  ^-s•,3;^«•  )     ,      -jw  'V 


■f 


sg 


Chap.  XVI.] 


RATTU||rAKES. 


229 


known,  before  we  can  expect  to  comprehend  why  certain  types 
were  originally  selected  for  certain  areas,  whether  of  land  or  water. 

In  the  museum  of  the  Medical  College,  Professor  Shepard 
showed  me  a  fine  specimen  of  the  large  rattle-snake  of  South 
Carolina  (Crotalm  adcunantmus),  preserved  in  spirits.  It 
was  said  to  have  been  nine  years  old,  having  six  rattles,  the 
tail  acquiring  one  annually  after  t^e  third  year.  When  brought 
into  th«  laboratory  in  wintfer  in  a  torpid  state,  an  electric  shock 
had  been  coirimunicated  t©  it.  Which  threw  it  into  a  state  of 
extreme  excitement  Two  tortctsea,  nearly  torpid,  were  also, 
put  hy.the  professor  into  a  glass  b^U  filled  with  laughing  gas,  and 
they  immediately  began  to  leap  about  with  great  agility,  and  con- 
tinued m  this  state  of  muscular  excitement  for  more  than  an  hour. 

In  both  my  tours  in  America,  I  heard  stories  not  only  of  dogs, 
which  had  died  suddenly  from  the  bite  of  rattle-snakes,  but  men 
ako;  and  the  venom  is  said  to  be  more  virulent  in  the  south.  I  re- 
joiced, therefore,  that  I  had  chosen  the  coldest  season  for  my  visit 
to  these  latitudes ;  but  it  seemed  singular  that  in  my  wanderings 
to  explore  the  rocks  in  various  states,  I  had  never  yet  got  sight  of 
a  single  snake,  or  heard  its  rattle.  That  they  make  a  much  greater 
figure  in  books  of  travels  than  in  real  life,  I  can  not  but  suspect. 

Ahnost  all  the  best  houses  in  Charleston  are  built  wi^  veran- 
dahs, and  surrounded  with  gardens.  In  some  of  the  streets  we 
admired  the  beautiful  evergreens,  and  remarked  among  them  the 
Frunus  virgimofM,  with  black  cherries  hanging  to  it,  and  Mag- 
nolia grandiftora.  The  number  of  turkey  buzzards  is  surprising. 
I  have  seen  nine  of  them  perched  side  by  side,  like  so  many 
bronze  statues,  breaking  the  long  hue  of  a  roof  in  the  clear  tlue 
sky,  while  others  were  soaring  in  the  air,  each  feather,  at  the 
extremity  of  th«ir  extended  wings,  being  spread  out,  so  as  to  be 
seen  separate  firom  the  rest.  A  mw  England  friend,  whom  we 
met  here,  seeing  my  interest  in  these  birds,  told  me  they  are  the 
sole  scavengers  of  the  place,  and  a  fine  of  five  dollars  is  imposed 
on  any  person  who  kills  one.  »<  You  are  lucky  in  being  here  in 
a  3old  season;  if  you  should  comiaback  in  summer,  you  would 
think  that  these  vultures  had  a  right  to  the  whole  city,  it  stinks 
flor  intolwabl3r." . -  — , 


dU^ 


TKir 


«^ 


'-^ 


••.■^=rr-'"^  / 


■.,••?:* 


*- 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

Charleston  Xo  Savannah.— Beauforfc.  River,  or  Inland  Navigation  in  South 
Carolina.— Slave.  Stealer. — Cockspur  Island. — Rapid  Growth  of  Oysters. 
— Eagle  caught  by  Oyster.— Excursion  from  Savannah  to  Skiddaway 
Island.— Megatherium  and  Mylodon.— Cabbage  Palms,  or  Tree  Palmet- 
tos. — ^Deceptive  Appearance  of  Submarine  Forest. — Alligators  sveallow- 
ing  Flints. — Their  Tenacity  of  Life  when  decapitated. — Grove  of  Live 
Oaks. — Slaves  taken  to  Free  States. 

Dec.   ^,   1845 — A  fine   steam-ship,   the  General  Clinch, 
conveyed  us  to  Savannah.     I  was  surprised,  when  sailing  out 
of  the  beautifi^  harbor  of  Charleston,  on  a  bright  scorching  day, 
to  see  acloud  of  smoke  hanging  over  the  town,  and  learned  that 
they  bum  her6  not  a  little  of  what  is  called  Liverpool  coal. 
Among  others  on  board,  was  a  female  passenger  fybm  one  of  the 
western  states,  who;  having^  heard  me  make  inquiries  for  my 
wife,  went  up  to  her  in  the  ladies'  cabin  and  said,  "  Your  old 
man  is  inighty  eager  to  see  you ;"  "  old  man,"  as  we  afterward 
found,  being  synonymous  with  husband  in  the  West.     We  were 
to  go  by  the  inland  navigation,  or  between  the  islands  and  the 
coast.     After  passing  Edisto  Point,  we  ran  agromid  at  the  en- 
trance of  St.  Helena's  Sound,  in  mid-passage,  and  were  detained 
some  hours  till  the  tide  floated  us  off  to  the  westward,  through- 
the  winding  mazes  of  a  most  intrfcate  channel,  called  the  Beau- 
fort  River.      We  passed,  between  low  sandy  islands,  and  an 
equally  low  mainland,  covered  with  evergreen  oaks,  and  long- 
leaved  pines  and  pahnettos,  six  or  sefen  feet  high.     Sometimes 
we  sailed  by  a  low  bluff*  or  pliff  of  whita  sand,  two  or  three  feet  ' 
in  height,  then  by  a  cotton  plantation,  then  by  large  salt  marshes 
covered  with  reeds,  on  which  the  cattle  are  supported  when  fod- 
der ia  scarce  in  winter.     The  salt  water  in  this  nirrow  channel 
was  as  calm  as  a  lake,  and  perfectly  clear.     Numerous  wild 
ducks  were  diving  as  our  steamboat  approached,  and  beds  of 
ny»ter<  wert-uaoovwed  feetwwa  high  tod  low  water  mark,  "ft — 


^a'TTT  "^^  "^  ■^  ■'■^^ 


Chap.  XVIL] 


BEAUFORT. 


231 


was  a  novel  and  curious  scene,  especially  when  we  approached 
Beaitfort,  a  picturesque  town  composed  of  an  assemblage  of  villas, 
the  summer  residences  of  numerous  planters,  who  retire  here 
during  the  hot  season,  when  the  interior  of  jHouth  Carolina  is  un- 
healthy for  the  whites.  Each  villa  is  shaded  by  a  verandah, 
surrounded  by  beautiful  live  oaks  and  orange  trees  laden  with 
fruit,  though  with  leaves  slightly  tinged  by  the  late  severe  frost. 
It  is  hoped  that  these  orange  trees  will  not  suffer  as  they  did  in 
February,  1835,  for  then  the  cold  attacked  them  much  later  in 
the  season,  and  after  the  sap  had  risen.  The  Pride-of-India  tree, 
with  its  berries  noW  ripe,  is  an  exotic  much  in  favor  here.  A 
crowd  of  negroes,  in  their  gay  Sunday  clothes,  came  down  to 
look  at  our  steamboat;  griming  and  chattering,  and  looking, 
as  usual,  perfectly  free  from  care,  but  so  ugly,  that  although 
they  added  to  the  singularity  and  foreign  aspect  of  the  scene, 
they  detracted  greatly  fixnn  its  charms. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  dense  beds  of  oysters  between  high 
and  low  water  mark,  hundreds  of  which  adhere  to  the  timbers  of 
the  pier  at  Beaufort,  as  barnacles  do  in  our  English  ports,  I  might 
have  supposed  the  chamtel  to  be  really  what  it  is  called,  a  river. 

An  old  Spanish  fort,"  south  of  Beaufort,  reminded  me  that  this 
region  had  once  belonged  to  the  Spaniards,  who  built  St.  Augus- 
tine, still  farther  to  the  south,  the  oldest  city  in  the  United 
States,  and  I  began  to  muse  on  the  wonderful  history  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race  in  settling  these  southern  states.  To  have 
overcome  and  driven  oi^,t  in  so  short  a  time  Indians,  Spaniards, 
and  French,  and-  yet,  after  all,  to  be  doomed  to  share  the  terri- 
tory with  three  millions  of  negroes  I  . 

Of  this  latter  race,  we  had  not  a  few  passengers  on  board. 
Going  into  the  steerage  to  converse  with  some  of  them,  my  curi- 
osity was  particularly  attracted  to  a  group  of  three,  who  were 
standing  by  themselves.  The  two  younger,  a  girl  and  a  lad, 
^ere  very  frank,  and  willing  to  talk  with  me,  but  I  was  imme- 
j^iatoly  joined  by  a  young  white  man,  not  ill-looking,  but  who 
struck  me  as  having  a  vfery  determined  countenance  for  his  age. 
-llTheie  cokied people^'  hn  mid,  i'  whom  you  Jiavo  boon  spg&kiug 


to,  belong  to  me,  and  they  have  probably  told  you  that  I  have 


tlA-.i-  ,- 


sy*" 


233 


SLAVE  STEALER. 


[Obap.  XVII. 


brought  them  by  railway  from  Augusta  to  Charleston.     I  hop© 
to  dispose  of  them  at  Savannah,  but  if  not,  I  shall  take  them  to 
Texas,  where  I  may  seU  them,  or  perhapl  keep  them  as  laborers 
and  settle  there  myself"     He  then  told  me  he  had.fought  in  the 
wars  for  the  independence  of  Texas,  which  I  afterward  found  was 
quite;  true,  and,  after  telling  me  some  of  his  adventures,  he  said, 
"  I  Mill  take  450  dollars  for  the  girl,  and  600  for  the  boy  :  they 
are  both  of  pure  blood,  would  stand  a  hot  cUmate  well ;  they  can 
not  read,  but  can  count  up  to  a- thousand."     By  all  the«se  quali- 
ities,  negative  and  positive,  he  evidently  expected  to  enhance  in 
ray  eyes  the  value  of  the  article  which  he  meant  me  to  buy  ;  and 
no  sooner  did  he  suspect,  by  one  of  my  questions,  that  I  was  a 
foreigner  traveling  for  my  amusement,  than  he  was  off  the  sub- 
ject, and  I  attempted  in  vain  to  bring  him  back  to  it  and  to  learn 
why  the  power  of  counting  was  so  useful,  while  that  of  reading 
was  undesirable.     About  three  weeks  after  this  incident,  when 
we  were  at  Macon  in  Georgia,  there  was  a  hue  and  "cry  after  a 
thief  who  had  stolen  five  negroes  near  Augusta,  and  had  taken 
them  to  Savannah,  in  the  General  Clinch,- where  h©  had  sold  one 
of  them,  a  girl,  for  460  dollars.     From  Savannah  he  had  been 
traced  with  the  remaining  four,  by  railway,  to  Macon,  whence  it 
was  supposed  he  had  gone  south.     The  description  of  the  dehn- 
quent  left  m©  no  doubt  that  he  was  my  former  fellow-traveler, 
and  I  how  learnt  that  ^  was  of  a  respectable  family  in  Georgia, 
the  spoiled  child  of  a  widowed  mother,  self-willed  and  unmanage- 
able  from  his  boyhood,  and  who  had  gone  off  against  the  wishes 
of  his  relations  to  fight  in  Texas.     I  tecoUected  that  when  we 
were  at  Beaufort,  none  of  his  negroes  had  gone  ashore,  and  that 
he  had  kept  his  eye  always  anxiously  on  them  during  our  stay 
there.     I  also  remarked,  that  the  planters  on  board,  who,  for  the 
most  part,  were  gentlemanlike  in  their  manners,  shunned  all  in- 
tercourse with  this  dealer,  as  if  they  regarded  his  business  as 
scarcely  respectable.     A  vast  majority  of  the  slave-owners  aoqui- 
esced  originally  in  the  propriety  of  abolishing  the  external  slat©- 
trade;   but  the  internal  one  can  not,  they  say.  be  done  away 
^^^^' ^l^°r\"!^!j"j°y  ^^L^^^J*^*  circulation  of  labor  from 

m 


=ms 


Chap.  XVIL]      EAGLE  CAUGHT  BY  AN  OYSTER. 


S33 


check  thig.  they  maiutain,  would  injure  the  negroes  as  much  as 
th^ir  masters.     When  they  are  forced  to  part  with  slaves,  they 
usually  sell  one  to  another,  and  are  unwilling  to  dispose  of  them 
to  a  stranger.     It  is  reckoned,  indeed,  quite  a  disgrace  to  a  negro 
to  be  so  discarded.     When  the  former  master  bids  for  one  of  his 
"own  people."  at  a  iale  of  property  forced  on  by  debt,  the  public 
are  unwUUng  to  bid  against  him.     It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  a 
dealer  must  traffic  in  the  lowest  and  most  good-for-nothing  class 
ot  laborers,  many  of  whom,  in  Europe,  would  be  in  the  hands  of 
Doacmen  or  m  oonviot  ships  on  their  way  to  a  penal  settlement. 
1  heard  of  one  of  these  dealers,  who,  having  made  a  large  fortune, 
hved  sumptuously  in  one  of  the  towns  on  the  Mississippi  after 
retirmg  from  business,  but  in  spite  of  some  influential  connections, 
he  was  not  able  to  make  his  way  into  the  best  society  of  the  place. 
T  .^V^,'"**''^^  ^^  ^«  Savannah  River  we  passed  Cockspur 
Island,  ^here  there  is  a  fort.     The  sea  is  said  to  have  encroach- 
ed many  hundred  yards  on  this  islarfft  since  1740,  as  has  hap- 
pened  at  other  points  on  this  low  coast ;  but  there  has  been  also 
a  gam  of  land  m  many  places.     An  officer  stationed  at  the  fort 
told  me,  that  when  a  moat  was  dug  and  the  sea-water  admitted, 
oysters  grew  there  so  fast,  that,  at  the  end  of  two  years,  they 
afforded  a  regular  supply  of  that  luxury  to  the  garrison.     The 
species  of  oyster  which  is  so  abundant  here  (Ostrea  virginioa) 
resembles  our  European  Ostrea  edulis  in  shape,  when  it  lives 
isolated  and  groWs  freely  under  water;   but  those  individuals 
which  hve  gregariously,  or  on  banks  between   high  and  low 
water  lose  their  round  form  and  are  greatly  lengthened.     They 
are  caUed  racoon  oysters,  because  they  are  the  only  ones  which 
the  racoons  can  get  at  when  they  come  down  to  feed  at  low  tide 
Capt.  Alexander,  of  the  U.S.  artiUery,  told  me  that,  in  the  sum- 
mer  of  1844.  he  saw  a  large  bald-headed  eagle,  Aguila  leucoce^ 
phala,  which  might  measure  six  fbet  fiom  tip  to  tip  of  its  ex 
tended  wings,  caught  near  the  bar  of  the  Savannah  river  by  one 
of  these  racoon  oysters.     The  eagle  had  perched  upon  the  shell- 
hsh  to  prey  upon  it.  when  the  moUuik  suddenly  oloMd  ito  valves 
and  shut m  the  bird's  claw,  and  would  haw  detaimKHtywemy  - 
tUl  the  rismg  tide  had  come  up  and  drowned  it,  had  not  the  caii- 


934 


EXCURSION  TO  SKIDDAWAY.  [Ohap.  XVII 


^ 


tain  in  his  boat  secured  it  with -a  noose,  and  'disengaged  it  from 
the  oyster.  He  flapped  his  wings  violenUvjw  they  approached, 
but  could  not  es.cape.  '    -^ 

Dec.  29 — Savannah  has  a  population  of  12,000  souls,  but 
seems  rather  stationary,  though  some  new  buildings^  are  rising 
The  mildness  of  its  climate  is  attributed*  partly  to  the  distance 
to  which  the  Alleghany  Mountain^  retire  from  the  sea  coast  in 
this  latitude,  and  partly  to  the  proximity  of  the  Gulf-stream.  But 
many  of  the  northern  invalids,  who  are  consumptive,  and  had 
hoped  to  escape  a  winter  by  taking  refuge  in  this  city,  are  com- 
plammg  of  the  frost,  and.  say  that  the  houses  are  inadequately 
protected  against  cold.  The  sun  is  very  powerful  at  mid-day 
and  we  see  the  Camellia  Japonica  in  the  gardens  flowering  in 
the  open  air ;  but  the  leaves  of  the  orange  trees  Jook  crisp  and 
Irost-bitten,  and  I  am  told  that  the  thermometer  lately  fell  as  low 
as  17°  Fahr.,  so  that  even  the  salt  water  froze  over  in  spme  of 
the  marshes.  '^ 

WhUe  at  Savannah  I  made  a  delightful  excursion,  in  com- 
pany  with  Dr.  Le  Conte,  Captain  Alexander,  and  Mr.  Hodgson, 
to  Skiddaway,  one  of  the  sea-islands,  which  may  be  said  to  form 
part  of  a  great  delta  on  the  coast  of  Georgia;  between  the  mouths 
of  the  Savannah  and  Ogeechee  rivers.     This  alluvial  region  con- 
,  Bists  of  a  wide  extent  of  low  land  elevated  a' few  feet  above  high 
water,  and  intersected  by  numerous  creeks  and  swamps.     I  gave 
some  account  in  tny  former  tour  of  my  visit  to  Heyner's  Bridge  * 
where  the  bones  of  the  extinct  mastodon  and  mylodon  were  found 
Skiddaway  is  .five  or  six  miles  farther  from  Savannah  in  the  same 
southeast  direction,  and  is  classical  ground  ftr  the  geologist  for 
on  Its  northwest  end,  where  there  is  a  low  cliff- from  two  to  six 
feet  in  height,  no  less  than  three  skeletons  of  the  huge  Megathe- 
nwm  have  been  dug  up,  besides  the  remains  of  the  Mylodtm 
Elephas  pnmtgentus.  Mastodon  giganteus,  and  a  specie?  of  the 
ox  tnbe      The  bones  occur  in  a  dark  peaty  soil  or  marsh  mud 
above  which  is  a  stratuni,  three  or  four  feet  thick,  of  sand,  charged 
with  oxide  of  iron,  and  below  them  and  beneath  the  sea  level 
ooouri  sand  containing  a  great  number  of  marinn  foni^  b|^^||^  ^^ 


•  Travels  in  North  America,  vol,  i.  p.  163. 


't 


i  J^'(i*  aSoA. 


^  '_ji-j  j'*      -it*   U.si'''-'^ii 


Chap.  XVIL] 


CABBAGE  PALM. 


235 


0 


belonging  to  species  which  still  inhabit  the  neighboring  coatt, 
showing  hW  modern  is  the  date,  geologically  speaking,  of  the  ex- 
tinct animak^ince  thtey  were  evidently  posterior  to  the  existing 
molluscous  faunKof  the  sea. 

The  scenery  of  tKeSbw  flat  island  of  Skiddaway  had  more  of 
a  tropical  aspect  than  any  which  I  had  yet  seen  in  the  United 
States^  Several  distinotVspecies  of  palmetto,  or  fan  palm,  were 
conmion^  as  also  the  tree,^  cabbage  pahn,  a  noble  species,  which 

Fig.  6, 


«> 


Clam«rop«  Po/iMtto. 
tkMag*  Piim,  or  Tall  PalmtUo,  SkiSdawcf  Ittand,  Ottrgit. 

I  had  never  seen  before.  In  some  of  the  cotton-fields  many  in- 
dividuals  were  growing  singly,  having  been  planted  at  regular  in- 
tervals to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  trees,  and  were  from  twenty- 
five  to  forty  feet  in  height.     The  trunk  bulges  at  the  base,  above 

aixmt^oiro^fbot  in  diameter,  umi  of  the  iame~ 


size  throughout,  or  rather  increasing  upward.     At  the  top  the 


prr<!bj4l,^-,-..'.;,l«  trM'v.. 


236 


BIRDS. 


[Ohap.XVIT. 


leaves  spread  out  on  all  sid^,  as  in  other  fan  pallns.     Those 
twhich  have  faUen  off  do  not  leave  separate  scars  on  the  trunk, 
but  rings  are  formed  by  their  bases.     The  cabbage  of  the  young 
palm  is  used  as  a  yegetable,  but  when  this  part  ia  cut  off,  the 
plant  is  killed.     I  saw  sections  of  the  wood,  and  tl|e  striicture  of 
it  resembles  that  of  true  palms.    .It  is  said  by  Elliott  to  be  inval- 
uable for  submarine  construction,  as  it  is  never  attadted  by  the 
ship-worm,  or  Teredo  'navalis.     This  tree  flourish^  in  a  clay 
soil,  and  is  of  slow  growth*     It  requires  the  sea  air,  and  has  not 
suffered  from  the  late  severe  frost.     We  saw  some  plants  twelve 
years  old,  and  others  which  in  fifty  years  had  attained  a  height 
of  about  twenty  or  twenty-five  feet.     Such  as  have  reached  forty' 
feet  are  supposed  .to  be  at  least  a  century  old.     In  those  fields 
where  the  negroes  were -at  work,  and  where  the  cotton  plants 
were  still  standing  five  or  six  feet  high,  with  no  Sther  trees  ex- 
cept these  pahns,  I  could  well  imagine  myself  in  the  tropics. 
We  put  up  many  birds,  the  names  of  which  were  all  familiar  to 
Dr.  Le  Conte;   among  others  the  Virginian  partridge  (Or^ya; 
virginiana),  the  rook  (Corvus  americani^j,  nearly  resemblincr , 
our  European  species,  not  only  in  jflumage  but  in  its  A6te,  the 
marsh  hawk  {Circus  cyaneus),  the  snowy  heron  {Ardea  can- 
dtdissima),  the  bald-headed  eagle,  the  summer  duck,  and  meadow 
lark.     We  also  hear^^.the  mocking-bird  in  the. woods.     As  we 
were  entering  a  barn,  a  screech-owl  {Bubo  ado,  Lin.)  flew  out 
nearly  in  the  face  of  one  of  the  party.      When  w^  parae  to  a  tree 
partially  barked  by  lightning,  I  asked  Dr.  Le.Conte  whether  he 
adopted  the  theory  that  this  decortication  was  caused  by  steam ; 
the  sap  or  juices  of  the  tree,  immediately  under  the  bark,  being 
suddenly  converted  by  the  heat  of  the  electric  fluid  into  vapor. 
He  said  that  Ughtning  was  so  common  here,  that  he  had  had 
opportunitiei  of  verifying  this  hypothdhis  by  observing  that  the 
■team,,  or  small  cloud  of  smoke»  as  it  is  commonly  called,  which 
is  produced  when  a  tree  ii  struck,  disappe^  immediately,  as  if 
by  oondeniation. 

There  are  decided  proofe  on  the  coast  of  Georgia  of  changes  in 
the  level  of  the  land,  in  times  geologically  modern,  and^  I  shall 
aOeiwaid  nieutTonlfiS  stmnps  d* trees  below  the  sea-ievel,  at  the"" 


Chap.  XVIL] 


ALLIOATOBS. 


237 


mouth  of  the  Altamaha  river,  in  pnwf  of  a  foimer  gubaidence : 
but  a  stranger  is  in  great  danger  of  feeing  deceived,  because  the 
qommon  pme,  caUed  the  lobloUy  {Pinus  tada),  has  tap-roots  as 
lai-ge  as  the  trunk,  which  run  down  verticaUy  for  seven  or  eiirht 
teet,  without  any  sensible  diminution  in  size.  At  the  depth  of 
about  ten  feet  below  the  surface  this  root  sends  off  numerous 
smaller  ones  horizontally,  and  when  the  sea  has  advanced  and 
swept  a^ay  the  enveloping  sand  from  such  tap-roots,  they  remjun 
erect,  and  become  covered' with  barnacles  imd  oysters.  When  so 
circumstanced,  they  have  exactly  the  appearance  of  a  submarine 
ioT^t,  caused  by  the  sinking  down  t,f  land.  A  geologist,  who  is 
on  his  guard  against  being  deqeived  by  the  undermining  of  a  cliff; 
And  the  consequent  sliding  down  and  submergence  of  land  covered 
with  trees  which  remain  vertical,  may  yet  be  misled  by  findinir 
these  large  tap-roots  standing  upright  under  water. 

As  the  alligators  are  very  abundant  in  the  swamps  near  the 
mouth  ^  the  Savannah,  I  heard  much  of  their  habits,  and  was 
surprised  to  learn  that  pebbles  are  oft«i  met  with  in  their  stom- 
achs, which  they  have  swallowed  to  aid  their  digestion,  as  birds 
eat  sand  and  gravel  to  assist  the  mechanical  action  of  the  gizzard 
The  pecuhar  conformation  of  the  alligator's  stomach  confirms 
this  view^  On  the  site  of  some  of  the  old  Indian  villages  whole 
baskets  foil  of  flint  arrow-heads  have  been  picked  up,  ted  some 
of  these,  much  worn  and  rubbed,  have  been  taken  out  of  the 
stomachs  of  these  reptiles. 

The  extraordinary  tenacity  of  life  manifested  by  the  alligator 
when  seriously  mutilated,  led  Dr.  Le  Conte  to  make  a  series  of 
expenments.  with  a  view  of  throwing  light  on  the  phUosophy  of 
the  nervous  system  in  man  as  compared  to  the  lower  animals. 
A  you^g  alligator  wm  decapitated  at  the  point  where  th«  neck 
oi  atlas  articulates  with  the  occiput.  Not  more  than  twt)  ounces 
of^blood  flowed  from  the  wound.  The  jaws  of  the  detached  head 
still  snapped  at  any  thing  which  touched  the  tongue  or  lining 
membrane  of  the  mouth.  After  the  convulsions  produced  by  de- 
capitation had  subsided,  the  trunk  of  the  animal  remained  in  a 
jtatg^o|tQgK)rj6semblingprdbund.slo^:  But '  when  pricked-of- 
pmched  on  the  sides,  the  creature  would  .scratch  the  spot,  some- 


238 


GROVE  OF  LIVE  OAKS. 


[Chap.  XVIJ. 


times  with  the  fore,  and  sometimes  with  the  hind  foot,  according  » 
to  the  situation  of  the  injury  inflicted.     These  movements  of  the 
limbs  were    promptly  and    determiuately  performed,   and  were 
always  confined  to  the  members  on  the  side  of  the  irritating 
cause.     If  touched  belq,w  the  posterior  extremity  on  the  thick 
portion  of  the  tail,  he  would  slewly  and  deliberately  draw  up 
the  hind  foot,  and  scratch  the  part,  and  would  use  considerable 
force  in  pushing  aside  the  oflending  object.     These. experiments^ 
were  repeatedly  performed,  and  always  with  the  same  results, 
appearing  to  prove  that  the  creature  could-  not  have  been  toti^ly 
devoid  of  sensation  and  consciousness.     Dr.  Le  Conte  concludes, 
therefore,  that,  although  in  man  and  the  more  highly  organized 
vertebrata,  volition  is  seated  in  the  brain,  pr  encephalus,  this 
function  in  reptiles  must  extend  over  the  whole  spiral  cord,  or 
cerebro-spinal  axis.     Some,  however,  may  contend  that  the  mo- 
tions observed  are  merely  spasmodic  and  involuntary,  like  sneez- 
ing, the  necessary  results  of  certain  physical  conditions  of  the 
nervous  systemi^nd  not  guided  in  any  way  by  the  mind.    "If  so,  ' 
it  can  not  be  demtod  that  they  have  all  the  appearance  of  being 
produced  with  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  end  in  view,  and  to  be 
directed  peculiarly  to  that  end ;  so  that,  if  we  embrace  the  hy- 
pothesis that  they  supervene  simply  on  the  application  of  stimuli, 
without  any  sensations  being  carried  to  the  brain,  and  without 
any  co-operation  of  the  mind,  must  we  not  in  that  case  suspect 
that  a  large  proportion  of  the  actions  of  quadrupeds,  usually 
attributed  to  the  control  of  the  will,  may  in  like  manner  be  per- 
formed without  consciousness  or  volition  ?* 

When  we  got  back  to  Savannah,  I  found  my  wife  just  retijmeJIh 
from  Bonaventure,  about  four  mii^s  distant,  where  she  had  ac- 
companied a  lady  on  a  drive  to  see  a  magnificent  grove  of  live 
oaks,  the  branches  of  which,  arching^  over  head,  form  a  splendid 
aisle.  It  was  formerly  the  fashion  of  the  planters  of  the  Caro- 
linas  and  Georgia,  to  make  summer  tours  in  the  northern 
Btates,  or  stay  in  Watering-places  there ;  but  they  are  now  in  the 
habit  of  visiting  the  upland  region  of  the  Ajlleghanies  in  their 

*  Sea  a  paper  by  J.  lift-CQnte>-  New^  York  Journal  of  Medicine^  Jiog* 


>. 


.f»»- ' 


i\. 


Chap.  xfMl      SLAVES  TAKEN  TO  FHEE  STATES. 


W 
^ 


239 


own  Btat|g.  and  speak  enthusiaSftllly  of  the  beauty  and  grandeur 
of  the  scenery.  Their  intereourse  with  the  nbrth  was  useful  in 
givmg  tmni  newidea«,  and  showing  them  what  rapid  proffresg 
civihzation,  18  making  there ;  hut  they  have  been  deterr^  from 
traveh,^  there  of  late,  owing,  as  they  tell  me,  to  the  conduct  of 
the  ab^tiomsts  toward  the  negro  jervants  whom  they  take  with 
tnem,     .-/  •        \ 

Sometimes  a  writ  of  HM>eas  Corpiii  is  served,  and  the  colored 
servant  is  earned  before  a  magistrate,  on  the  plea  that  he  or  she 
are  detamed  against  their  wiU.  Even  where  they  have  firmly 
declared  their  wish  to  return'  to  their  owners,  they  have  been 
often  unsettled  in  their  ideas,  and  less  contented  afterward  with 
their  condition. 


y 


"J^lFfi^  "-Aiiv  i. 


r''J 


CHAPTER  XYIII; 

Savannah  to  Darien.-^Anti-Slavery  Meetings  <Mscussecl.— War  with  fin- 
gland. — Landing  at  Darien. — Craokers.--'8cetteiy  on  AltalfliAha  River. 
— Negro  Boatmen  singing. — Marsh  Blackbird  in  Rice  Grounds. — Hospi- 
tality of  Southern  Planters.  —  N«w  Clearing  and  Natural  Rotatkn  of 
Trees.  —  Birds.  —  Shrike  and  Kingfisher.  —  Excursion  to  St.  Sitoon's 
Island. — Butler's  Island  and  Negroes. — Stumps  of  Trees  in  Salt  Marshes 
proving  SttbM4ence  of  Land. — Alliga|pr  seen. — Tlieir  Nests  and  Habits. 
Their  Fear  of  Poipoises.*-Indian  Shell  Mound  on  St*  Simon's  Island.— 
Date-pidm,  Orange,  Lemon^  Mid  Olive  Trees*— Hurricanes. — Visit  to, 
outermost  Barrier  Island. — Sea  Shells  on  Beach. — Negro  Maid-Servants. 

Dec.  31,  1845. — On  the  last  day  of  the  year  we  sailed  in  a 
steamer  from  Savannah  to  Darien,  in  Georgia,  about  125  miles 
farther  south,  skirting  a  low  coast,  and  having  the  Gulf-stream 
about  sixty  miles  to  the  eastward  of  us.  Our  fellow-passengers 
consisted  of  planters,  with  several  mercantile  men  from  northern 
states.  The  latter  usually  maintained  a  prudent  reserve  on 
politics ;  yet  one  or  two  warm  discussions  arose,  in  which  not 
only  the  chances  of  war  with  England,  and  the  policy  of  the 
party  now  in  power^  but  the  more  exciting  topic  of  slavery,  and 
the  doings  at  a  recent  anti-slavery  meeting  in  Exeter  Hall, 
London,  were  spoken  of  I  was  told  by  a  fellow-passenger,  that 
some  of  the  Georgian  planters  who  are  declaiming  most  vehe- 
mently against  Mr.  Polk  for  so  nearly  drawing  them  into  a  war 
with  Great  Britain,  were  his  warmest  supporters  in  the  late 
presidential  election.  "  They  are  justly  punished,"  he  said,  '« for 
voting  against  their  principles.  Although  not  belonging  to  the 
democratic  party,  they  went  for  PoUc  in  order  tl^t  Texas  might 
be  annexed  ;  and  now  that  they  have  carried  that  point,  their 
imaginations  are  haunted  with  the  image  of  the  cotton  trade 
paralyzed,  an  English  fleet  ravaging  the  coast  and  carrying  away 
their  negroes,  as  in  t!^e  last  war,  and,  worst  of  all,  the  abolition- 
ists of  the  north  looking  on  with  the  utmost  complacency  at  their 
ruin."     One  of  the  most  moderate  of  the  planters,  with  whom  I 


conversed  apart,  told  me  that  the  official  avowal  of  the  Knglisli 


m-iAitii     , 


■J."     i,  ''y*'fe"i°  T'*  ''  f^  f?T5?r^'^"'V'^?'™"  ™w.f,f  ^   -.j*-   vj.  ^*  ^T- 


■^ 


Chap.  XVIII.] 


ANTI-SLAVERY  MEETINGS. 


241 


government,  that  one  of  the  reasons  for  acknowledging  the  inde- 
pendence of  Texas  was  its  tendency  to  promote  the  abolition  of 
slavery,  had  done  much  to  ahenate  the  planters,  and  increase  the 
anti-Enghsh  feeling  in  the  south.     He  also  observed,  that  any 
thing  like  foreign  dictation  or  intermeddling  excited  a  spirit  o*f 
resistance  and  asked  whether  I  thought  the  emancipation  of  the 
West  Indian  slaves  would  have  been  accelerated  by  meetings  in 
the  United  States  or  Germany  to  promote  that  measure.     He 
then  adverted  to  the  letters  lately  published  by  Mr.  Colman  on 
Enghsh  agriculture,  in  which  the  poverty,  ignorance,  and  sta- 
tionary condition  of  the  British  peasantry  are  painted  in  most 
vivid  colors.     He  also  cited  Lord  Ashley's  speeches  on  the  mise- 
ries endured  underground  by  women  and  boys  in  coal-mines,  and 
said  that  the  parliamentary  reports  on  the  wretched  state  of  the 
factory  children  m  England  had  been  largely  extracted  from  in 
their  papers,  to  show  that  the  orators  of  Exeter  Hall  mio-ht  find 
abuses  enoi^h  at  home  to  remedy,  without  declaiming  \gainst 
the  wrongs  df  theur  negroes,  Mikose  true  condition  and  prospects 
of  improvement  were  points  on  which  they  displayed  consummate 
■  Ignorance.      Finding    me   not    disposed    to   controvert    him,    he 
added,  in  a  milder  tone,,  that,  for  his  part,  he  thought  the  so'uth- 
>  ern  planters  owed  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  England  for  setting  the 
example  to  American  philanthropist^  of  making  pecuniary  com- 
pensation to  those  whose  slaves  they  set  free. 

When  I  had  leisure  to  think  over  this  6onversation,  and  the 
hint  conveyed  to  my  countrymen,  how  they  might  best  devote 
their  energies  toward  securing  the  progress  of  the  laboring  classes 
at  home,  it  occurred  to  me  that  some  of  Chanrting's  discourses 
against  slavery  might  be  useful  to  a  minister  \Vho  should  have 
•the  patriotism  to  revive  the  measure  for  educating  the  factory 
children,  proposed  in  184»by  Sir  James  Graham,  and  lost  in 
consequence  of  the  disputes  between  the  Church  and  the  Dissent- 
ers.  It  would  be  easy  to  substitute  employer  for  owner,  and 
laborer  for  slave,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  eloquent  appeal  of 
the  New  England  orator  would  become  appropriate  :— 

1'  Mutatolnomine  de  ta 


VOL. 


I.— L 


Fabula  narratur." 


,^,'*' 


,//• 


242 


WAR  WITH  ENGLAND. 


[Obap.  XVlll. 


Iii 


"  Every  man,"  says  Channing,  in  his  argument  against  slavery, 
"  has  a  right  to  exercise  and  invigorate  his  intellect,  and  who- 
ever oljstruets  or  quenches  the  intellectual  life  in  another,  inflicts 
a  grievous  and  irreparable  wrong."*  "  Let  not  the  sacredness 
of  individual  man  be  forgotten  in  the  feverish  pursuit  of  property. 
It  is  more  important  that'  the  individual  should  respect  himself, 
and  be  respected  by  others,  than  that  national  wealth,  which  is 
not  the  end  of  society,  should  be  accumulated."t  "  He  (the 
slave)  must  form  no  plans  for  bettering  his  condition,  whatever 
be  his  capacities  ;  however  equal  to  great  improvements  of -his 
lot,  he  is  chained  for  life  to  the  same  unwearied  toil.  That  ho 
should  yield  himself  to  intemperance  we  must  expect,  unused  to 
any  pleasures  but  those  of  sense."  "  We  are  told,"  says  the 
same  author,  "that  they  are  taught  religion,  that  they  hear  the 
vbice  of  Christ,  and  read  in  .his  Voss  the  unutterable  worth  of 
their  spiritual  nature ;  but  the  grater  part  are  still  buried  in 
heathen  ignorance. "J 

"  They  may  be  free  from  care,  and  sure  of  future  support,  but 
their  future  is  not  brightened  by  images  of  joy ;  it  stretches  be- 
fore them  sterile  and  monotonous,  sending  no  cheering  whisper  of 
a  better  lot."§ 

An  inhabitant  of  one  of  the  six  New  England  States,  or  of 
New  York,  where,  in  a  population  of  five  millions  of  souls,  one 
teacher  is  now  i^pplied  for  every  thirty  children,*' may  be  en- 
titled to  addp<res  this  language  to  the  Southern  slave  owner ; 
but  does  the  state  of  the  working  classes,  whether  in  Great 
Britain  or  the  West  Indies,  authorize  us  td  assume  the /same 
tone  ? 

A  merchant  from"  New  York  told  me,  that  in  "  The  Union,"  a 
semi-official  journal,  published  at  Washington,  and  supposed  to 
represent  the  views  of  the  cabinet,  an  article  had  just  appeared, 
headed,  "  The  whole  of  Oregon  or  none,"  which  for  the  first  time 
gave  him  some  uneasiness.  "A  war,"  he  said,  might  seem  too 
absurd  to  be  possible  ;  but  a  few  months  ago  he  had  thought  the 
election  of  Mr.  Folk  equally  impossible,  and  the  President  might 


*  CtianningV-Wjorks,  vol.  ii»p.  35. 


t  Vol.  ii.  p.  44. 


TToT.  ii.  p.  94. 


TToI.TTp:^?: 


^ 


'.p'T^ '«  T-P- ten?   '  w     r  ■•  •nt^"    '.T-r^'p 


(pwt  'VWJ^^I^JS^l^^lflfffgli 


■fait,  xvni.j 


lANDING  AT  DARIEN. 


243 


L°1h  ""'""if  *^*^  *^  P°P"'"  P»'"™«'  ti"  he  could  not  eo«. 

Tuv  -r'.ffi       /"'u'''"!^''^  "''""''"  ^""W  l-*™  ^'ded  differ, 
ently     he  aflmned,  "  but  for  5000  fraudulent  votes  given  in  the 

aratLr    ..T       '"^  f  """  ""  ^'''*  'hey  had  made  no  p^ep- 

ICr  1    I  """i^  ■''P'"''-"  ^^  '""'•  "«»  *•>«  policy  of  En- 
gland.     If  she  made  predatory  and  bucaniering  desoente  upon 

«.e  coast,  as  m  the  lasrW,  or  attacked.some  of  the  great  Zt 
ZZC-  ■*"  ""^'"  ''"  "P  "-^  "'«''»  P°P"'='«on  r  a  "at, 

Ite'of  the  TT  *''t  "'T^''  "^  '"''  "<«"  "S'''''^'  "-e  oom- 
n„2  1  •  """*  '"~^  ""  the,  defensive  in  Canada,  so  as 

cusC  rt  T^'^'  ^""^  ""PP'*  «'«'''  '«™'""»  derivei  from 
the  cTl  ,  PrP'''v"""*'"'«™g  ^at  when  the  war  commenced, 
^d  ^u2  ,  '•  -^""'^'^  ""'^  *«  ^"Klish  press  were  pacific 
and  mlhng  to  come  to  a  compromise  about  Oregon,  would  be- 

wwVhTr  1  "r'  """*'"»•  ""O  *"™  '^'-'  *"  P-^y 
which  had  plunged  them  into  KostUities."  ^ 

'■XIa:.  31  —At  the  end  of  a  long  day's  sail,  our  steamer  hmd- 
^  us  safely  at  the  viUage  of  Dan«l,  on  the  sandy  banlTof 

^oadTTh^T  "  ^''^  '"  P"^"""""  AItamL,the  .^ 
broad).     The  sky  was  clear,  and  the  air  mild,  but  refreshin„ 
«.d  we  wore  told  that  ^  must  walk  to  the  inn,  not  &r  off 
Five  n^-es  were  very  officious  in  offering  their  servicrand 
ftur^f  them  at  l»gth  adjusted  all  our^packages  onlSacb 
The  other,  having  nothing  else  to  do,  issumS'the  comm«,7of 
^e  party  having  first  said  to  me,  ..If  you  not  ready,Tw«l 
hesitate  for  hdf  an  hour."    We  passed  under  some  of  the^bW 
evergreen  oak.  I  had  yet  seen,  their  large  pictu«»que  JZ  swS 
mg  on  a  I  sides,  half  out  of  the  W.  sandy  soil!ll  TX  & 
hung  with  unusually  long  weepers  of  Spanish  moss.    wL  I  h^ 
paid  our  four  porters,  the  one  who  had  gone  first,  «s„m?nt  » 
'  ai'  of  great  importance.  ..hoped  I  would  remember  thnfot^ 
As  the  inn  was  almost  in  si^t  from  the  landing,  and  our  couL 

lamiliar  with  evftry  step  of  thg  wn^r  ,„^  , -.  .  .•■.,     "  ^^^^ 


.^aa*^a»x  wiui  uvBry  8Tep  PL  tHe  wayr-we  woru  He1^-ft  titri»  T^rg-^ 


.  f 


'  tMi,., 


,.kl41 


fT-:r  ^rmi^-' ^:;'.,     y  a',**- it**"''^'^:^*!^^'^*'' "'^■^ 


r344 


SCENERY  ON  ALTAMAHA. 


[Chap.  XVIII. 


:  Y' 


h 


'f  ■■ 


*  tenance  of  the  pilot  made  his  appeal  irresistible.     The  bed  at  our 

humble  iim  was  clean,  but  next  morning  we  were  annoyed  by 
having  tq^  sit  4own  to  breakfest  with  a  poor  white  family,  to 
whom  the  same  compliment  could  not  be  paidr—a  man  and  his 
wife  and  four  children,  belonging  to  the  class,  called  «« crackers" 
in  Georgia.  The  etymology  of  this  word  is  rather  uncertain, 
some  deriving  it  from  -the  long  whips  used  by  the  wagoners. 
They  are  a  class  of  small  proprietors,  who  seem  to  acquire  slov 
^   enly  habits  from  dependence  on  ^aves,  of  whom  they  can  main- 

V  tain  but  few.  .  i.      •      » 

The  next  mbmmg,  while  we  were  standing  on  the  nvers 

bank,  we  were^  joined  bj^  Mr.  Hamilton  Couper,  with  whom  I 

had  corresponded  on  geological  matters,  and  whom  I  have  already 

mentioned  as  the  donor  of  a  splendid  collection  of  fossil  remains 

to  the  museum  at  Washington,  and,  I  may  add,  of  other  like 

treasures  to  that  of  Philadelphia.     He  came  down  the  river  to 

ineet  us  in  a  long  canoe,  Mowed  out  of  the  trunk  of  a  single 

cypress,  'and  rowed  by  six  Negroes,  who  were  isinging  loudly,  and 

^keeping  time  to  the  stroke  of  their  oars.    .  Be  bi-ought  us  a  packet 

•of  letters  from  England,  which  had  be&i  sent  to  his  house,  a 

welcome  New  Year's  gift;  and  when  w©  had  glanced  over  their 

contents,  we  entered  the  boat  angj;^gan  to  ascend  the  Alta- 

maha.  '^  '^/^'"  j      •  u 

The  river  was  fringed  on  both  sides  with  tall  canes  and  with 

the  cypress  {Cupresms  dispitha),  and  many  other  trees,  still 
leafless,  which,  being  hung^ith  gray  moss,  gave  a  somber  tone 
to  the  scenery  at  this  sealon,  in  spite  of  the  green  leaves  of  sev- 
eral species  of  iaurel,  rayrtle,  and  magnolia.  But  wherever  there 
^'  4'<^^S*  break  in  the  fringe  of  trees,  which  flourished  luxuriantly 
viJ^'tw^he  swamps  bordering  the  river,  a  forest  of  evergreen  pines 
was  seen  in  tl^e  back  ground.  For  many  a  mile  we  saw  no 
habitations,  and  the  solitude  was  profound ;  but  our  black  oars- 
men  made  the  woods  ^ho  to  their  song.  One  of  them  taking 
the  lead,  first  improvised  a  Verse,  paying  compliments  to  his  mas- 
ter's family,  and  to  &  celebrated  black  beauty  of  the  neighbor- 
hood.  who  was  compared  to  the  "  red  bird."     The  otk-r^ five 


'^lyf;  '"a^fipy^^i'i  ?^'^jfiTiB'-'W«??ig 


!! 


5% 


Chap.  XVIIL] 


SOUTHERN  PLANTERS. 


3^ 


ni^K  7        ""^  "P  *  ^y^"'  **"^*^*  *^^"»  *>y  the  Methodists, 
m  which  the  roost  sacred  subjects  were  handled  with  strange 
famihanty  and  which,  though  nothing  ifeverent  was  roeant 
3^^^  to  our  ears,  and^  when  Mowing  a  love  ditty,  1 

About  fifteen  roiles  above  it.  on  the  opposite  bank,  wc  caroe  to 
Hopeton,  the  residence  of  Mr.  H.  Couper,  having  first  passed 
from  the  nver  into  a  canal,  which  traversed  the  low  rice  fields 
Here  we  put  up  prodigious  flights  of  the  marsh  blackbird  (Aie- 
W^Wez^s).  sometimes  called  the  red-winged  starling,  be- 
cause the  male  has  some  scarlet  feathers  in  the  upper  part  of  his 
™g.     When  several  thousands  of  them  are  in  rapid  motion  at 

7L    "^A^r  '^'  ^'l  "^'  ""  *'^°"^'  ^""^  then. -when  the  whole 
of  them  suddenly  turn  their  wings  edgeways,  the  cloud  vamshes 
to  reappear  as  instantaneously  the  next  moment.     Mr.  Couper 
encourages  these  birds,  as  they  eat  up^aU  the  loose  grains  of  rice 
scattered  over  the  field  after  the  harvest  has  been  gathered  in 
If  these  seeds  ^^re  left,  they  spring  up  the  year  following,  pro^ 
ducing  what  IS  called  volunteer  rice,  always  of  inferior  quaUty  to 
that  which  IS  regularly  sown.     From  the  rice  grounds  we  walked 
up  a  bank  to  6,  level  table  land,  composed  of  sand,  a  few  yards 
above  the  nver.  and  covered  with  pines  and  a  mixture  of  scrub   • 
oak.     Here,  in  tltis  genial  climate,  there  are  some  wUd  flowers 
in  bloom  eyery  day  of  the  year.     On  this  higher  level,  near  the 
slog  whioh  facds  the- rice  fields  and  the  river,  stands  the  house 
u^Z'  ^^^^'^^^e  spent  our  ticiie  ver)'  agreeably  for  a  fort- 
night.    Much  has  been  said  in  praise  of  the  hospitality  of  the 
southern  planter,  but  they  a^pne  who  have  traveled  in  the  south- 
ern  states,  can  appreciate  the  perfect  ease  and  politeness  with 
which  a  stranger  is  made  to  feel  himself  at  home.     Horses   car- 
Tiages.  boats,  servants,  are  all  at  his  disposal.     Even  his  little 
comforts  are  thought  of.  and  every  thing  is  done  as  heartily  and 
naturally  as  if  no  obligation  were  conferred.     When  northerners 
who  are  not  very  rich  receive  guests  in  the  country,  whore  do- 
mestic  servants  are  few  and  expensive,  thev  are  ofti>n  .nmr^i),^ 


-ittlreywouTd  iMure  the  comfort  oftheir  visitors,  to  perform  me. 


\ 


ra^vH- 


S46 


ROTATION  OF  TBEES. 


[Chap.  XVIII. 


1 

nial  oiffices  themselves.  The  sacrifices,  therefore,  rnadeby.the 
planter,  are  comparatively  Small,  since  l^ci  has  a  well-trained  es- 
tablishment of  servants,  and  his  habitual  style  of  living  is  so  fiee 
and  liberal,  that  the  expense  of  a  few  additional  inmates  in  the 
family  is  scarcely  felt.  Still  there  is  a  warm  and  generous  open- 
ness of  character  in  the  southerners,  which  mere  wealth  and  a 
retinue  of  servants  cannot  give ;  and  they  have  often  a  dignity  of 
manner,  without  stiffness,  which  is  most  agreeable. 

The  landed  proprietors  here  visit  each  other  in  the  style  of 
English  country  gentlemen,  sometimes  dining  out  with  their 
families  and  returning  at  night,  or,  if  the  distance  be  great,  re- 
maining to  sleeip  and  coming  home  the  next  morning.  A  con- 
siderable part  of  their  food  is  derived  from  the  produce  of  the 
land  ;  but,  as  their  houses  are  usually  distant  from  large  towns, 
they  keep  large  stores  of  groceries  and  of  clothing,  as  is  the 
custom  in  country  houses  in  some  parts  of  Scotland. 

Near  the  house  of  Hopeton  there  was  a  clearing  in  the  forest, 
exhibiting  a  fine  illustration  of  that  natural  lotation  of  crops, 
which  excites,  not  without  re^ison,  the  surprise  of  every  one  who 
sees  it  for  the  first  time,  and  the  true  cause  of  which  is  still  im- 
perfectly understood.  The  trees  which  had  been  cut  down  were 
fiiU-grown  pines  (^Pinics  austraHs),  of  which  the  surrounding 
wood  consists,  and  which  might  have  gone  on  for  centuries,  one 
generation  after  another,  if  their  growth  had  not  been  interfered 
with.  But  now  they  are  succeeded  by  a  crop  of  young  oaks, 
axkd  we  naturally  ask,  whence  came  the  acorns,  and  how  were 
thoy  sown  here  in  such  numbers  ?  It  seems  that  the  jay  [Gar- 
rulus  cristatus)  has  a  propensity  to  bury  acorns  and  various 
grains  in  the  ground,  forgetting  to  return  and  devour  them.  The 
rook,  also  {^Corvus  aniericanus),  does  the  same,  and  so  do  some 
squirrels  and  other  Eodentia  ;  and  they  plant  them  so  deep,  that 
they  will  not  shoot  unless  the  air  and  the  sun's  rays  can  pene- 
trate freely  into  the  soil,  as  when  the  shade  of  the  pine  trees  has 
been  entirely  removed.  It  muit  occasionally  happen,  that  birds 
or  quadrupeds,  which  might  otherwise  have  returned  to  feed  on 
the  hidden  treasure,  are  killed  by  some  one  of  their  numerous 

enemies.       But    as    thfi    sepds    nf   pinpw   mnat   hw   infinitely    mnrfl 


»' 


Chap.  XVIIL] 


SHRIKE  AND  KINGFISHER. 


si4r 


aidant  than  the  acorns,  we  have  still  to  explain  what  prin- 
cipl  in  vegetable  life  favors  the  rotation.  Liebig  adopts  n^ 
Candolle's  theory,  as  most  probable.  He  supposes  that  the  roots 
of  plants  imbibe  soluble  matter  of  every  kind  from  the  soil,  and 
absorb  many  substances  not  adapted  for  their  tnrtrition,  which 
kre  subsequently  expelled  by  the  roots,  and  returned  to  the  soil 
as  excrements.  -  Now,  as  excrements  cannot  be  assimilated  by 
the  plant  which  ejected  them,  the  more  of  these  matters  the  soil 
contains,  the  less  fertile  must  it  become  for  plants  of  the  same 
species.  These  exudations,  however,  may  be  capable  of  assimi- 
lation by  another  perfectly  different  kind  or  family,  of  plants, 
which  would  flourish  while  taking  them  up  from  the  soil,  and 
render  the  soil,  in  time,  again  fertile  for  the  first  plants.  "  Dur- 
ing a  fallow,"  says, Liebig,  "the  action  of  the  sun  and  atmos- 
phere, esPeci^Py  if  not  intercepted  by  the  growth  of  weeds, 
causes  jMBpcomposition  of  the  excrementitious  matters,  and 
oonvertipPlioa  into  humus  or  vegetable  mold,  restoring  fer- 
tility.'"* 1 

In  one  part  of  the  pine  forest  I  saw  the  Liquidambar  tree 
growing  vigorously  fifty  feet  high,  with  a  bark  resembling  cotk. 
The  hiid  of  brightest  plumage  was  the  one  called  the  red  bird, 
or  red  cardinal  (Loxia  cardindlis),  which  has^a  full,-clear,  Vd 
mellow  note,  though  no  variety  of  song.  It  frequents  bushes  in 
the  neighborhood  of  houses,'  where  it  comes  to  be  fed,  but  will 
not  thrive  in  captivity.  One  day,  a  son  of  Mr.  Couper's  brought 
us  a  hen  cardinal  bird  and  a  wild  partridge,  both  taken  unin- 
jured in  a  snare.  It  was  amusing  to  contrast  the  extreme  fierce- 
ness of  the  cardinal  with  ^he  mildness  and  gentleness  of  the 
partridge.  That  insects,  birds,  and  quadrupeds,  of  the  same 
genera,  but  of  distinct  species,  discharge  similar  functions  in 
America  and  Europe,  is  well  known.  My  attention  was  called 
here  to  some  thorny  bushes,  on  which  the  shrike  or  loggerhead 
(Zianitcs  ludovicianus)  had  impaled  small  lizards,  frogs,  and 
beetles,  just  as  I  have  seen  mice  and  insects  fixed  on  thorns  by 
our  Englisii  shrikes.  Here,  also,  the  marshes  near  the  river  are 
frequented  by  the  belted  kingfisher  (Alcedo  cUcyon),  resembling 


A 


± 


Sani 


-^^^^^^^^= 


"%;' 


348 


VISIT  TO  ST.  SIMON'S. 


[Chap.  XVIIL 


i. 


in  plumage,  though  not  bo  hrilliant  as'the  English  kingfisher, 
which  yet  lingers,  in  spite  of  persecution,  in  the  reedy  isla,nds  of 
the  Thames ,  above  London.  Mr.  Couper  tells  me,  that  the 
American  bird  diies  after  its  prey,  like  that  of  Eiirojpe,  and  will 
of^en  carry  a  fim,  not  much  smaller  thai^  itsetf,  and  beat  it 
against  the  »stump  of  a  tree,  first  on  one  -side,  then  on  the  other, 
till  every  bone  in  its  body  is  broken ;  it  can  then  swallow  it,  in 
spite  of  ittf  size. 

A  few  ddys  after  our  arrival  (January  4,  1846),  Mr.  Couper 
took  us  in  a  canoe  down  the  river  firom  Hopetoij  to  one  of  the 
sea-islands,  called  St.  Simon's,  fifteen  miles  distant,  to  visit  his 
summer  residence,  and  to  give  me  an  opportunity  of  exploring 
the  ceology  of  the  coast  and  adjoining  low  country.  We  saw, 
on  the  banks  of  the  river,  the  Magnolia  glauca,  attaining  a 
height  of  thirty  feet,  instead  of  being  only  ten  feet  high,  as  in 
the  swamps  iof  New  England.  The  gum  tree  (iVyssa  aquaticft), 
out  of  leaf  at  this  season,  was  conspicuous,  from  the  manner  in 
which  the  smooth  trunk  swells  out  at  the  base,  being  partially 
hollow  in  the  interior,  so  that  it  is  often  used'  by  the  negroes 
for  bee-hives.  Jays  and  blue-birds  wove  very  abundant,  and 
there  were  sev^fal  largel^hawks'  nests  on  the  tops  of  tall  deaid 
trees." ..  '^ 

Among  the  zoological  characteristics  of  the  North"  American 
rivers,  hone  is  more  remarkable  than  the  variety  of  species  of 
shells  of  the  genus  Unio;  or  fresh- water  mussel,  which  inhabit 
them.  Every  great  stream  .  yields  soaie  new  forms,  and  Mr. 
Couper  has  already  discovered  in  the  Altamaha  no  less  than 
sixteen  species  before  unknown ;  one  of  these,  Unio  spinosus, 
has  a  singular  appearance,  being  armed  with  spines,  standing 
out  horizontally  from  the  shell,  and  probably  acting  as  a  defense 
against  .some  enemy.  ' 

On  our  way  we  landed  on  Butler's  Island,  where  the  banks 
of  the  river,  as  is  usual  in  deltas,  are  higher  than  the  ground 
immediately  behind  them.  THey  are  here  adorned  with  orange 
trees,  loaded  with  golden  fruit,  and  very  ornamental.  We  sAiMr 
ricks  of  rice  raised  on  props  five  feet  high',  to  protect-  them  from 
the  sea,^whioh.  during  hurricanes,  has  been  known  to  ri^  five  or 


■M- 


,  "   ^36^^-^  er4c^"  '-SSC?-S«(^i^Sf''«5C^5:^^ 


bOtlbb's  island. 


S49 


fll  ^'  J^"  f^  '"''"'*'  **"  °«»*'  "d  whitewashed,  all 
floored  with  wood  each  with  an  apartment, called  the  haU.  t^o 

-olrr -•/"''  *  'f  *■"  ""'  '''^'*"»''  *"*  **  »  evident  ttit 
,  on  these  nee  farms,  where  the  negroes  awociate  with  soareelv 
any  whites,  except  the  overseer  and  his  femily.'  and  haTbuI 
Lttle  mterconrse  with  the  slaves  of  other  estate,  they  murt  rl 
mam  far  more  stationary  tha„  wherfe,..s  in  a  la^  pm  ^ 
Gfeoi;g,a,  they  are  about  equal  in  number  to  the  whit^,  or  even 

hT,.'  ":r'\     '^.'"'  '"'^'  ">°'«'™^'  »  the  i„t  ri^r,^ 
health,er  than  those  in  rice  plantations,  ahd  multiply  faste  ,S^^ 
though  the  nee  grounds  are  salubrious  to  the  neg^,  a.  com 
pared  to  the  whites.     In  this  lower  region  the  int^^  ofTe 

mate,  and  free  from  cate,  partly,  no  doubt,  because  of  their  low 
mental  development,  and  partly  because  they  and  thei,  chndtl 
are  secured  from  want.     Such  advantages,  however,  woufd  ^ 

tr^X  Jr"  a'^^'""'^  ''"^  '""'"' ''  *'^  -^  — -«» 
1^  J  °  ^^  approached  the  sea  and  the  brackish  water,  the  wo^l 
bonlenng  the  nver  began  first  to  g«,w  dwarfish,  and  th^ 
lowenng.  suddenly,  to  give  pla,i  Entirely  to  reeds ;  but  still ,™ 
WW  the  buned  stump,  and  stools  of  the  cypres.  U  nine  xoT . 
tinmng  Kshow  themselves  in  every  section 'of  the  ba&  CL 
tammg  the  upright  position  in  which  Ihey  briginally  grew      tC 

t"Z  ™"t%    *  r/  the  saJt-marshesclearly  demoLa.es  tha 
tro«  once  flounshed  where  they  would  now  be  immediately  kUled 
by  the  .alt  water     .There  njust  have  been  a  change;  in'/he  wU 
at.ve  level  of  land  and  se^  to  acfohnt  for  their  ™^h  sin" 
even  above  the  commencement  of  the  brackish  water,  rimilar 
stumps  are  visible  at  a  lower  level  than  the  present  high  tide  , 
and  cover*!  by  layers  of  sedimeptaty  matter,  on  which  taU  cv^ 
presses  and  other  trws  are  now  standing.    From  such  phenomena   ' 
we  may  mfer  the  foUowing  se<<i.ence  of  events  --fim.L  XeM 
forest  was  submerged  several  feet,  and  the  sunk  tree.  Wofe  killed 
by  the  salt  water ;  they  then  rotted,  away  do*m  to  «fce  water 
!,7l('!.'°^.°»-"^°")'  "-^5  -^"^  »'y°»  o^"^-^  thrown 


A^  .  '  —      "»"««  inyers  oi  Sana  wcrre  thrown 

flOwn  upon  tho  »tunn>»  ,  and^ihmHy, ^en  the  goflacelSa  been 

l1* 


4.  Mat  .^ 


.  !i^j^^'-'.i 


^r 


«50. 


TREES  IN  SALT  MARSHES. 


[Chap.  XYHI.      ^ 


raised  %  fluviatile  i^diment,  as  in  6.  delta,  a  new  foresl  grew  up' 
over  the  ruins"  of  the  old  one.  %^ 

I  have  said  that  the.deqay  of  suoh  timber  is  slow,  for  l"aw 
cypresses  at  Hopeton,  which  had  been  pUrposely  killed  by  girdhng 
or  cutting  away  a  ring  of  bark,  which  stood  erect  on  the  borders 
of  the  rice  grounds  after  thirty  years,  and  bid  fair  to-  last  for 
many  a  year  to  come.  It  does  no  small  credit  to  the  sagacity 
of  Bartram,  the  botatiist,  that  he  should  have  remarked,  when 
writing^n  1792,  that  the  low;  flat  islands  on  the  coast,  as  well 
as  the  salt  marshes  and  adjoinijng  sandy  region,  tjbrough  -vyhich 
so  many  rivers  wind,  and  which  afford  so  secure  a  navigat^n  for 
schooners,  boat8,*^d  canoes,  may  be,  a  step  in  aldvance  gained 
by  the  continent  on  the  Atlantic  in  modem?  times.  "  But  if  so," 
he  adds,  "  it  is  still  clear  that,  at  a  period  immediately  preceding, 
the  same  region  of  low  land  stretched  still  farther  out  to  sea." 
On  the  latter  subject  hia  words  are  so  much  to  the  point,  as  to 
deserve  being  quoted  :— — 

"  It  seems  evident,  even  to  demonstration,  that  those  salt 
marshes  adjoining  thp. coast  ef'the  main,  and  the  reedy  and 
grassy  islands  and  marshes  in  the  rivfers,  which  are  now  over- 
flowed at  every  tide,  were  formerly  high  swamps  of  firn^  land, 
aijbrding  forests  of  cypress,  tupelo,  magnolitj.  grandiflora,  oak, 
ash,  sweet  bay,  and  other  timber  trees,  the  same  as  are  no\v 
growing  on  the  river  swamps,  whose  surfape  is  two  feet  or  more 
above  the  spring  tides  that  flow  at  this  day.  And  it  is  plainly 
to  be  seen  by  every  planter  along  the  coast  of  Carolina,  Georgia, 
'and  Florida,  to  the  Mississippi,  when  they  bank  in  these  grassy 
tide  marshes  for  cultivation,  tl^at  they  can  not  sink  their  drains 
above  three  or  four  feet  below  the  surface,  before  they  come  to 
strata  of  cypress  stumps  and  other  trees,  as  close  together  as  they 
now  grow  in  the  swamps."* 

"Wheii  ottr  canoe  had  proceeded  into  the  brackish  water,  where 
the  river  bjanks  consisted  of  marsh  land  covered  with  a  tall  reed- 
like grass,  we  came  close  up  to  an  alligator,  about  nine  feet  long, 
basking  in  the  sun.     Had  the  day  been  warmer,  ho  would  not 

*  W.  BarUttm's  Travels  through' North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
lio.     Lopdop,  17J>3. , .   ,.  ,,    , , 


.-ryr^ 


Ch.#.  XVIIL]        ALLIGATOR'S  NEST  AND  HABITS. 


n 


251 

,     ittt  ne  saw  ^00  of  tljem  together  in  St.  Marv's  Riv^r   ;« 
a^ftL    f  1  *«™>»™  l«ea  m  their  winter  retreats  ever  since 

.,Z      ?r      ^"'""^  convinced  me  that  he  may  be  dependrf 

hiX^dfi™7r,  •  T  ^^  '"^""^  '^^'"^^''  »'»''«  ft"  feet 
wfthCud  r«  "^  J'T**'  »«"'«i"'««».  beiKg  constructed 
eJ^ona  fl^^f  ^^'^^-  ^^'  *'>'  deposiTone  layer  of 
sSum  otZf'^T:"^  ^"'"^  covered  this  with  a  Jecond 

frorneT.::.;^^^  J  h^s;e^'':^\r lei:'^^^^^^^ 

T^  fll       f'!  ■  ^''  P'»™"'.«''e  approach  of  unseen  enemies 
The  feowle  lyatches  her  egg.  untU  they  are  aU  hatched  b/  he 
hct  of  the  sun,  an*  then  takes  he^.bLd  under  her  car/  T. 
Wmg  them,  and  providing  fcr  their  Uistence..     Dr Tuzt 
berger,  of  New  Orleans,  told  me  tl,at  he  once  packed  up  one  °f 

burgh,  but  was  recommended,  before  he  closed  it.  to  see  thaf  tW 
was  no  danger  of  any  of  the  eggs  being  hatch  d  on  thXte 
O^  opening  one,  a  young  alUgator,  walked  out,  and  wa,  ^nTl 

where  they  went  up  Mid  down  the  stairs,  whining  and  barking 


/ 


-^'  BjMUMIi,  pT^Zg, 


<.^4iB<.  ,fi^k>:uiiii&£itt4 . 


252 


INDIAN  SHELL  MOUND. 


tOttAP.  XVIIt 


like  young  puppies.     They  ate  voraciously,  yet  their  growth  was   » 
BO  slow,  as  to  confirni^him  in  the  common  opinion,  that  individ- 
uals whichM-ye  attained  the,  largest  size  are  of  very  great  age ; 
though  whemer  they  live  for  three  centuries,  as  some  pretend, 
must  be  decided  by  future  observations. 

Mr.  Couper  told  me  that,  in  the  summer  of  1845,  Jie  saw  a 
shoal  of  porpoises  coming  up  to  that  part  of  the  Altamaha  where 
the  fresh  and  salt  water  meet,  a  space  about  a  mile  in  length, 
the  favorite  fishing  ground  of  the  alligators,  wherauthere  is  brack- 
ish water,  which  shifts  its  place  according  to  the  varying  fitrengtl* 
of  the  river  and  the  tide.  Here  were  seen«ibout  fifty  alligators, 
each  with  head  and  neck  raised  above  water,  looking  down  the 
stream  at  their  enemies,  before  whomAhey  had  fled,  terror- 
stricken,  and  expecting  an  attack.  The  porpoises,  no  more  than 
a  doizen  in  number,  moved  on  in  two  ranks,  and  were  evidently  / 
complete  masters  of  the  field.  So  powerful,  indeed,  are  they, 
that  they  have  been  known  to  chase  a  large  alligator  to  the  bank, 
and,  putting  their  snouts  under  his  belly,  toss  him  ashore. 

We  landed  on  the  northeast  end  of  St;  Sinip's  Island,  at  Can- 
non's Point,  where  we  were  gratified  by  the  ^ght  of  a  curious 
monument  of  the  Indians,  the  largest  mound^  shells  left  by  the 
aborigines  in  any  one  of  the  sea  islands.'  Here  are  no  less  than 
ten  acres  of  ground  elevated  in  some  places  ten  feet,  and  on  an 
average  over  the  whole  area,  five  feet  above  the  general  level,- 
composed  throughout  that  depth  of  myriads  of  cast-away  oyster- 
shells,  with  sonw?  mussels,  and  here  and  there  a  modiola  and 
helix.  They  who  have  seen  the  Monte  Testaceo  near^Rome", 
know  what  great  results  may  proceed  from  insignificant  causes, 
where  the  cumulative  power  of  time  has  been  at  work,  sq  that  a 
hill  may  be  formed  out  of  the  broken  pottery  rejected  by  the  pop- 
ulation of  a  large  city.  To  them  it  will  appear  unnecessary  ^to 
infer;  as  some^  antiquaries  have  done,  from  the  magnitude  of  these 
•J^ian  mounds,  that  they  must  have  been  thrown  up  by  the  sea. 

Refutation  of  such  an  hypothesis,  we  have  the  fact,  that  flint 
Prheads,  stone  axes,  and  fragments  of  Indian  pottery  have 
ccn  detected  throiighout  the  mass.     The  shell-fisH  heaped  up  at 
Cannon's  Point,  muat,  from  their  nature,  have  been  caught  at  a 


...t      -   •' 


"'^r   Tiftttpi-Sfr^^ 


r^np^'^ 


Chap.  XVni.]  •     MR.  COtPER'S  VILLA. 


HSP^-P-*!?^ 


I   I 


85^ 


distance,  on  one  of  the  outer  islands  ;  and  it  is  well  known  that 
the  Indians  were  in  the  hatit  of  retummg  with  what  they  had 
taken,  from  their  fishing  excursions  on  the  coast,  to  some  good 
^    iiuntmg  ground,  such  as  St.  Simon's  afforded. 

We  found  Mr.  Couper's  villa,  near  the  water's  edge,  shaded 
by  a  verandah  and  by  a  sago  tree.  There  were  also  many  lemon 
trees  somewhat  injured  by  the  late  frost ;  but  the  olives,  of 
which  there  is  a  fine  grove  here,  are  unharmed,  and  it  is  thought 
^ey  may  one  day  be  cultivated  with  profit  in  the  sea  islands. 
We  also  adrmred  five  date  pahns,  which  bear  fruit.     They  were 

{!r  ^   rpf'°™  ^"'"^'^  '"^  ^^'«^*'  ^""^  ^^^«  '^ot  suffered  by  the 
cold      The  oranges  have  been  much  hurt.     Some  of  the  trees 
planted  by  Oglethorpe's  troops  in  1 742,  after  flourishing  for  ninety- 
three  years  were  cut  off  in  February,  1835.  and  others,  about  a 
century  and  a  half  old,  shared  the  same  fate  at  St.  Augustine  in 
J?  lorida.     So  long  a  period  does  it  require  to  ascertain  whether  the 
climate  of  a  new  country  is  suitable  to  a  particular  species  of  plant. 
1  he  evergreen  or  live  oaks  are  truly  magnificent  in  this  island : 
some  of  them,  73  feet  in  height,  have  been  found  to  stretch  with 
their  boughs  over  an  area  63  feet  in  diameter.     I  measured  one 
which  was  thirty-five  years  old,  and  fwwid-tiirirunk  to  be  just 
,  35  mches  m  diameter  near  the  base,  showing  an  annual  gain  of 
three  inches  m  circttmferende.     Another,  growing  in  a  favorable 
situation  forty-two  years  old.  was  nine  feet  six  inches  in  girth  at 
the  height  of  one  and  a  half  foot  above  the  ground. 

The  island  of  St.  Simon's  is  so  low,  that  the  lower  part  of  it 
was  under  water  in  1804  and  1824,  when  hurricanes  set  in  • 
with  the  wind  from  the  northeast.  Nearly  the  entire  surface 
was  submerged  in  1756.'  ^  In  that  year  the  sea  rose,  even  as  far 
north  as  Charleston,  to  the  height  of  six  feet  above  its  ordinary 
level,  and  that  city  might  have  been  destroyed,  had  the  galb  last- 
ed in  the  same  direction  a  few  hours  longer. 

I  went  ^vith  Mr.  Couper  to  Long  Island,  the  outermost  bar- 
rier  of  land  between  St-.  Simon's  and  the  ocean,  four  miles  long 
and  about  half  a  mile  wide,  of  recent  formation,  and  Consisting  of 
parallel  ranges  of  sand  dunes,  marking  its  growth  by  successive 
additiom,     Some  of  the  duno»on  thifr  eewrt  have  l)een  Taised  by^ 


if 


rV^ar^A  iitrW"' 


234 


LONG  ISLAND. 


[Chap.  XVIII. 


the  wind  to  the  height  of  40  or  50  f^et,  and  inclose  evergreen 
oaks  ( Quercus  virens),  the  upper  branches  of  which  alone  pro- 
trude above  the  surface.  Between  the  parallel  sand  dunes  were 
salt  marshes,  where  we  collected  the  plant-eating  shell  called 
Auricula  bidentata,  of  a  genus  peculiar  to  such  littoral  situa- 
tions. On  the  sea-beach,  we  gathered  no  less  than  twenty-nine 
species  of  marine  shells,  and  they  were  of  peculiar  interest  to  me, 
because  they  agreed  specifically  with  those  which  I  had  obtained 
from  the  strata  lying  immediately  below  Ihe  megatherium  and 
other  fossils  in  Skiddaway  Island,  and  which  occur  below  similar 
remains  presently  to  be  mentioned  near  Hopeton.  In  some  places 
we  found  bivalves  only  of  the  genera  Pholas,  Lutraria,  Sole- 
curtus,  Petricola,  Tellina,  Donax,  Venus,  Cardium,  Area, 
Pinna,  and  Mytilus,  just  as  in  the  fossil  group.  On  other  parts 
of  the  beach  there  was  a  mixture  of  univalves,  Oliva,  Pynda 
(Fulgur),  Bucdnum,  &c.  Besides  these  shells  we  found,  scat- 
tered over  the  sands,  a  scutella  and  cases  of  the  king  crab  (ii- 
mulus),  and  fragments  of  turtles,  with  bones  of  porpoises. 

Every  geologist  who  has  examined  strata  consisting  of  alter- 
nations of  sandstone  and  shale,  must  occasionally  have  observed 
angular  or  rounded  pieces  of  the  shale  imbedded  in  the  sand- 
stones, a  phenomenon  which  seems  at  first  sight  very  singular, 
because  we  might  almost  say  that  the  formation  is  in  part  made 
up  of  its  o>yn  ruins,  and  not  derived  wholly  from  pre-existing 
rocks.  On  the  exposed  coast  of  this  "  frontier  island,"  I  saw  a 
complete  explanation  of  the  manner  in  which  this  structure  orig- 
inates. Deposits  of  sand  and  beds  of  clay  are  formed  alternately 
at  different  seasons,  and  at  the  time  of  our  visit  the  sea  was 
making  great  inroads  on  an  argillaceous  mass,  washing  out 
pieces  of  the  half-consolidated  clay,  and  strewing  them  over  the 
sands,  some  flat,  others  angular,  or  rolled  into  various  sized  peb- 
bles. These,  when  carried  out  into  the  adjoining  parts  of  the 
sea,  must  be  often  included  in  the  sand,  which  may  be  eventually 
converted  into  sandstone. 

Among  the  nujuprous  sea  birds,  I  particularly  admired  one  called 
the  sheer-water,  with  its  shrill  clear  note,  and  most  rapid  flight. 

On  my  return  to  Cannon's  Point,  I  found,  in  the  well-stored 


K 


f^-'1i7'U3^        -^l 


Chap.  XVgl.] 


MENDICITY. 


SS5 


library  of  Mr.  Couper,  Audubon's  Birds,  Mictaud's  Forest  Trees, 
and  other  costly  works  on  natural  history;  also  Gather  wood's 
Antiquities  of  Central  America,  folio  edition,  in  which  the  supe- 
rior effect  of  the  larger  drawings  of  the  monuments  of  Indian 
architecture  struck  me  much,  as  compared  to  the  reduced  ones, 
given  in  Stephens's  Central  America,  by  the  same  artist,  although 
these  also  are  very  desc^ptive. 

During  our  excursion  to  the  sea-beach,  my  wife  had  been  vis- 
ited by  some  ladies  well  acquainted  with  relations  of  her  own,^ 
who  formerly  resided  in  this  part  of  Gcdrgia,  and  who,  when 
they  returned  to  England,  had  taken  back  with  them  an  old 
negress.  One  of  the  colored  maid-servants  of  the  ladies,  feeling 
no  doubt  that  Mrs.  W ,  although  she  had  recrossed  the  At- 
lantic, would  be  as  much  interested  as  ever  in  her  history,  sent 
innumerable  messages,  beginning  with,  ««Pray  tell  her  that  Mrs. 
A.  has  given  me  and  my  children  to  Mrs.  B."  They  were  all 
very  curious  to  know  about  their  former  friend,  Delia,  the  black 
maid,  and  how  she  had  got  on  in  England.  On  being  told  that 
she  had  been  shocked  at  seeing  s/many  beggars,  and  had  scold- 
ed them  for  not  working,  they  laughed  heartily,  saying  it  was  so 
like  her  to  scold ;  but  they  also  expressed  astonishment  at  the 
idea  of  a  white  mendicant,  Jjiere  being  none,  so  far  as  they  knew, 
white  or  colored,  in  Geo^a.  One  of  the  ladie*  explained  the 
term  "beggar"  to  sig^  in  England,  a  "mean  white  person;" 
and  said  to  an  attendant  who  had  once  accompanied  her  to  the 
north,  '« Do  you  not  remember  some  mean  white  men,  who  asked 
me  for  money  ?"  Talking  over  this  story  m  Alabama,  I  was^ 
told  that  mendicity  is  not  so  entirely  unknown  in  the  south ;  that 
a  superannuated  negress,  having  a  love  of  rambling,  and  wishing 
to  live  by  begging,  asked  her  master  to  set  her  free,  "for  when  I 
beg,  every  one  asks  me  why  I  do  not  go  to  my  owner."  "  What 
will  you  do  in  winter,"  said  he,  "when  you  can  not  travel  about?" 
"  I  will  come  back  to  you  then,"  she  replied,  "  and  you  will  take 
care  of  me  in  the  cold  weather." 

The  sea  islands  produce  the  finest  cotton,  and  we  saw  many 
women  employed  in  separating  the  cotton  from  the  seeds  with 
their  fingers,, aneatMld  cleRn  oocupatinn. 


^j^Lfc.f.  £t.i-J^'^lBl-\?  I 


i 


kiiUi, .     ._, . 


Mi 


-as^-; 


0 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


Rivers  made  turbid  by  the  Clearing  of  Forests. — Land  rising  in  suooessive 
Terraces. — Origin  of  these. — Bones  of  extinct  Quadrupeds  in  Lower 
Terrace. — Associated  Marine  Shells. — Digging  of  Brunswick  Canal.-— 
Extinction  of  Megatherium  and  its  Contemporaries. — Dying  out  of  rare 
Species. — Gordonia  Pubescens — Life  of  Southern  Planters. — Negroes 
on  a  Rice  Plantation. — Black  Children. — Separate  Negro  Houses. — 
Work  exacted. —  Hospital  for  Negroes. —  Food  and  Dress.— Black 
Driver. — Prevention  of  Crimes. — African  Tom. — Progress  of  Negroes 
in  Civilization. — Conversions  to  Christianity. — ^Episcopalian,  Baptist,  and 
Methodist  Missionaries. — Amalgamation  and  Mixture  of  Races. 

We  returned  from  St.  Simon's  to  Hopeton,  much  pleased  with 
our  expedition.  As  our  canoe  was  scudding  through  the  clear 
waters  of  the  Altamaha,  Mr.  Couper  mentioned  a  fact  which 
shows  the  effect  of  herbage,  shrubs,  and  trees  in  protecting  the 
soil  from  the  wasting  action  of  rain  and  torrents.  Formerlvi 
even  during  floods,  the  Altamaha  was  transparent,  or  only  stained 
of  a  darker  color  by  decayed  vegetable  matter,  like  some  streams 
in  Europe  which  flow  out  of  peaf^  mosses.  So  late  as  1841,  a, 
resident  here  could  distinguish  on  which  of  the  two  brartpjie*  of 
the  Altamaha,  the  Oconee  or  Ocmttlge€|>  a  freshet  had  ocf:]||(^> 
for  the  lands  in  the  upper  country,  drained  by  one  of  thea^^lffij^j 
Oconee)  had  already  been  partially  cleared  and  cultivated,  so  tha^t. 
that  tributary  sent  down  a  copious  supply  of  red  mud,  while  the  . 
o*ther  (the  Ocmulgee)  remained  clear,  though  swollen.  But  nq, 
sooner  had  the  Indians  been  driven  out,  and  the  woods  of  their 
old  hunting-grounds  begun  to  give  way  before  the  ax  of  the  new- 
settler,  than  the  Ociriulgee  also  became  turbid.  I  shall  have 
occasion,  in  the  sequel,  to  recur  to  this  subject,  when  speaking  of 
some  recently-formed  ravines  of  great  depth  and  width  iii  the 
red  mud  of  the  upland  country  near  Miiledgeville  in  Georgia. 

The  low  region  bordering  the  Atlantic,  comprising  the  soa- 
ialands,  such  as  St.  Simogj,  wini  the  flat  or  .nearly  level  plaiia 


'''^"■*-'liP'    '^•'^t^ifr'c 


•f^sHv^"! 


Orap.  XIX  ] 


SUCCESSION  OF  TERRACES. 


isr 


of  the  mam  land  immediately  adjoining,  has  an  average  height 
of  from  ten  to  twenty  feet,  although  there  are  a  few  places  where 
It  reaches  forty  feet,  above  the  sea.  It  extends  twenty  miles  in- 
land, and  consists  of  sand  and  clay  of  very  modem  formation,  m 
show  by  the  included  marine  shells,  which  are  like  those  of 
Skiddaway,  before  mentioned,*  all  identical  with  living  species. 
Ihis  superficial  deposit,  although  chiefly  marine,  contains,  in  some 
parts,  beds  of  fresh-water  origin,  in  which  the  bones  of  extinct 
mammalia  occur.  The  whole  group  would  be  called  by  geolo- 
gsts  fluvicmarine,  and  is  of  small  depth,  resting  immediately  on 


Eocene,  or  lower  tertiary 
the  shells  brought  up  fro: 
miles,  we  come  to  the  t€_, 
cend  abruptly  to  an  upper 
one,  the  strata  composing 


I  ascertained  by  examining 

ells.     Going  inland  twenty 

[f  this  lower  terrace,  and  as- 

Pseventy  feet  above  the  loWca^ 

belong  to  the  Eocene  periodL 


im  upper  terrace  also  runs  back  about  twenty  miles  to  the  ab- 
rupt termination  of  a  third  table-land,  which  is  also  about  seventy 
feet  higher,  and  consists  of  Eocene  strata,  by  the  denudation  of 
which  aU  these  terraces  and  escarpments  (or  ancient  sea-cUffs) 
have  been  formed.  Bartram  has,  with  his  usual  accuracy,  al- 
luded  to  these  eteps,  or  succession  of  terraces,  as  an  important 
geographical  feature ^f  the  country,  each  of  them  being  marked 
by  Its  own  botanicia  characters,  the  prevailing  forest-trees,  as  well 
as  the  smaller  plants^  being  different  iii  each. 
'  To  returto  to  the  first  platfonn,  or  lowest  land,  from  ten  to» 
forty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  it  consiatfeof  a  modem  de- 
posit, which  extends  400  miles  northward  to'WN'euse  in  North 
CaroUna,  and  prdbably  farther,  in  the  same  direction,  along  the 
Atlantic  border/  How  far  it  stretches  southward,  I  am  not  in- 
formed.  I  coAceive  it  to  have  been  accumulated  in  a  sea,  into 
which  many  rivers,  poured  during  a  gradual  subsidence  of  the 
md,  and  that  the  strata,  whether  fresh-water  or  marine,  formed 
during  the  smking  of  the  bottom  of  the  0ea.  have  been  ance 
brought  up  agam  to  their  present  elevation.  Throughout  this 
low,  flat  region,  the  remains  of  extinct  quadrupeds  are  occasion- 
ally  met  witl^  and  the  deposit  appears  to  be  very  aualogoug  to 


/ 

/     / 
/     / 


'4. 


I  I 


hiLi tdtkJ'itiitii.ltiiilii^tiJAiLL 


^hMimiftrnfrnmHimmi^im^^ 


,j;v? ' 


CjJ-I  'Ifr^  .       ">     ^*    ^'■'^■^*.^^ 


258 


BRUNSWICK  dANAL. 


[Chap.  XIX. 


the  great  Pampean  formation  on  the  borders  of  the  Atlantic  in 
South  America,  as  described  by  Mr.  Darwin.  Here  and  in  the 
Pampas  the  skeletons  of  many  quadrupeds  of  the  same  genera, 
such  as  the  Megatherium,  Megalonyx,  Mylodon,  Mastodon, 
and  JEquus  occur.  In  both  cases  it  has  been  proved  that  the 
mammalia,  all  of  which  differ  specifically,  and  most  of  th^m  gener- 
ically,  from  those  now  living,  flourished,  nevertheless,  at  a  time 
when  the  Atlantic  was  inhabited  by  the  exist£ag  species  of  mol- 
lusca,  and  whei\  the  climate,  therefore,  of  the  ocean  at  least, 
could  not  have  varied  materially  from  that  now  prevailing  in 
these  latitudes.  "    .  '^ 

Through  part  of  the  region  occupied  by  the  modem  deposits 
above  mentioned,  a  canal  was  cut  in  1838-39,  nine  miles  in 
length,  called  the  Brunswick  Canal,  to  unite  the  navigation  of 
the  Altamaha  and  Turtle  rivers  •  a  rash  undertaking .  of  some 
speculators  froifn  the  northern  states,  which,  had  the  work  been 
completed,  could  not  have  repaid  the  outlay.     About  ,200,000/. 

'(900,000  dollars)  were  expended,  a  sum  which  might  have  gone 
far  toward  obtaining  geological  surve/s  of  many  of  the  southern 
states,  whereas  the  only  geod  result  was  the  discovery  of  some 

^  valuable  fossil  remains ;  and  even  these  fruits  of  the  enterprise 
would  never  have  been  realized,  but  for  the  accidental  presence, 
energy,  and  scientific  knowledge  of  Mr.  Hamilton  Couper.  Part 
of  the  skeleton  of  a  megatherium,  dug  out  in  cutting  the  canal, 
was  so  near  the  surface,  that  it  was  penetrated  by  the  roots  of  a 
pine-tree.  It  occurred  in  clay,  apparently  a  fresh-water  deposit, 
and  underneath  it  were  beds  of  sand,  with  marine  shells  of  recent 
species,  stt  was  also  covered  witlLsand^*^  probably  mariif6,  but 
without  shells.  So  many  parts  of  tne  same  skeleton  wei*  found 
in  juxtaposition  as  to  suggest  thii  idea  that  a  whol9  carcass  had 
been  floated  by'the  rjver  to  the  spot,  and  eveh  where  the  bones 

*  were  slightl£;^9,ttered  they  were  not  injured  by  being  rolled. 
The  remains^  othf^  quadrupeds  associated. with  this  gigtintio 
sloth,  consisted  of  mylodon,  mastodon,  elephant,  equus,  and  bos, 
besides  a  fossil,  to  -vi^ch  Mr.  Owen  has  given  the  name  of  Hinr- 
lanus  americanus,  a^lew  genus,  intermediate  between  Lophiodon 
and  Toxodon^    It  had  bpua  stipposed  that  thaJ^>popo|amiu  m^f 


bftajLBt 


f 


)  '"'^S  ' '  '""Vqs^is^^ 


»'r  -^'sssFiji 


^ia3^M^4^^:^i^k>^^^:-. 


'^^ 


Chap.  XIX.] 


FOSSIL  REMAINS.      4 


359 


-^ 


BUS  were  among  this  assemblage  pf  fossil  genera  :  but  this  was  a 
mistake  ;  rior  have  either  of  these  genera  been  as  yet  metMth, 
fossil  or  recfent,  in  any  part  of  America,  although  the  swine  intro^ 
duced  by  man,  have  multiplied  so  fast.     The  horse  {Equus  curv- 
idem)  was  a  species  having  teeth  in  the  upper  jaw  more  curved 
than  any  living  horse,  ass,  zebra,  or  quagga  ;  and*  it  is  singuMr  ' 
that,  although  there  was  no  wild  representative  of  the  horse  tribe 
on  the  American  continent,  north  or  south,  when  discovered  by 
the  Europeans,  yet  two  other  fossU  horses  vgre  found  by  Mr. 
Nuttall  on  the  banks  of  the  Neuse,  fifteen  miles  below  Newborn 
in  North  Carolina.*     The  shells  and  bones  of  a  large  extinct 
species  of  tortoise  were  also  fouitd  to  accompany  the  above-men- 
tioned^ fossil  quadrupeds  of  Georgia ;    and  I  myself  picked  up 
many  fragments  of  this  Chelonian  strewed  over  the  banks  of 
earth  cast  up  from  the  Brunswick  Canal.  - 

In  another  part  of  the  excavations  made  in  digging  the  canal, 
the  ribs  and  vertebrae  of  6.  whale  much  roUed,  and  with  barnacles 
attached  to  ^  them,  were  discovered  belonging'  to  the  subjaoent 
marine  formation.  In  this  sand  the  shells,  as  before  stated,  are 
of  recent  species,  and  Mr.  Hamilton  Couper  has  collected  no  less 
than  forty-five  distinct  species  exclusive  of  Echinoderms. 

In  what  manner,  then,  has  the  destruction  of  these  quadrupeds, 
once  so  widely  spread  oyer  the  American  continent,  been  brought 
about  ?  That  they  Were  ^xterniinated  by  the  arrows  of  the  In- 
dian hunter,  is  the  first  idea  presented  to  the  mind  of  almost 
every  naturalist.  But  the  investigations  of  Lund  and  Clausen 
in  the  limestone  caves  of  Brazil  have  established  the  fact,  that 
with  the  large  mammalia  there  were  associated  a  great  many 
smaller  quadrupeds,  some  of  them  as  diminutive  u  field  mice, 
which  have  all  died  out  together,  while  the  land  shells,  oac»  their 
contemporaries,  still  continue  to  exist  in  the  same  countries.  We 
must  look,  therefore,  to  causes  more  general  and  powerful  than 
the  interventipn  of  man,  to  ac«)unt  for  the  disappearance  of  the 
a^cient  fauna,  an  event  the  more  remarkable,  as  many  of  the 

»  Mr.  tlonrad  intrusted  me  with  Mr.  Nuttall'ii  oolleotion,  and  Mr.  Owen 
hM  found  among  them  the  three  apeoies  of  Equidaa  here  alluded  to.  EguuM 
cwTuiiw,  isrryftaaifif,  Mff  a  ffiirrspeoierorWe  iiie  S^£,^>^^^^^ 


^ 


» '?t~isrti»T-  "jfT-if 


S60 


EXTERMINATING  CAUSES. 


[Chap.  XIX. 


species  had  a  very  wide  range,  and  mtist  therefore  have  been 
■  capable  of  accommodating  themselves  to  considerable  variations 

of  temperature.  The  same  species  of  megatherium,  for  example, 
ranged  from  Patagonia  and  the  river  Plata  in  South  America, 
between  latitudes  31°  and  50^  south,  to  corresponding  latitudes 

.  of  the  northern  continent,  and  was  also  an  inhabitant  of  the  in- 
termediate country  of  Brazil,  in  the  caves  of  which  its  fossil  re- 
Thains  are  met  with.  The  extinct  elephant  also  of  Georgia  [Ele- 
phas  primigenius)  has  been  traced  in  a  fossil  state  northward 
froni  the  Altamaha  to  thelPolar  regions,  and  theA  south  westward 

.  through  Siberia  to  the  south  of  Europe. 

%  As  to  the  exterminating  causes,  I  agree  with  Mr.  Darwin, 
that  it  id  the  height  of  presumption  for  any  geologist  to  be  aston- 
ished that  he  can  not  render  an  account  of  them.  No  naturalist 
can  pretend  to  be  so  well  acquaSnted  with  all  th*  circumstances 
^  on  which  the  continuance  upon  the  earth  of  any  living  species 

depends,  as  to  be  entitled  to  wonder  if  it  should  diminish  rapidly 
in  number  or  geographical  range.  But  if  his  speculations  should, 
embrace  a  period  in  which  considerable  changes  in  physical  geog- 
raphy are  known  to  have  occurred,  as  is  the  case  in  North  and 
South  America  since  the  megatherium  flourished,  how  much 
more  difficult  would  it  be  to  appreciate  all  the  effects  of  local 
modifloations  of  climate,  and  changes  in  the  stations  of  contempo- 
rary animals  and  plants,  on  all  which,  and  many  other  condi- 
tions, the  permanence  of  a  species  must  depend.  Until  we  un- 
derstand the  physiological  constitutions  of  organic  beings  so  well 
that  we  can  explain  why  an  epidemic  or  contagious  disease  may 
rage  for  months  or  years,  and  cut  off  a  large  proportion  of  the 
living  individuals  of  one  species  while  another  is  spared,  how  can 
we  hope  to  explain  why,  it  the  great  struggle  for  existence,  some 
•  species  are  mttltiplying,  while  others  are  decreasing  in  number  ? 
"If,"  says  Darwin,  "  two  species  of  the  same  genus,  and  of  closely 
allied  habits,  people  the  same  district,  and  we  can  not  say  why 
one  of  them  ia  rare  and  the  other  common,  what  right  have  wo  td 
won(iw  if  the  rarer  of  4he  two  should  cease  to  exist  altogether  ?" 
In  illustration  of  this  principle,  1  may  refer  to  two  beautiful 
wyorg^^nnH  fthnriahing  in  fhia  part,  nf  flnnrgin  .   ~       . 


^ 


{f 


Aljrift  -r'A.*8«-i--^^fcAj'.-....riMB^~i^-*^ 


ri.i'ti^W-itffei 


•■  f -^"SS"*^  ^^J;^^I■*J^  ■"*  '''^'>7r'      ■>'■' ■g.-^'vt  ■j^flTv-s^-^i-'^i- 


Chap.  XIX.] 


GOBDONIA  PUBBSCB5N8. 


S«l 


{pxFranldinia  of  Bartram).  a  plant  allied  to  the  camellia.    One 
01  these  I  saw  Qvery  where  in  the  swamps  near  the  Altamaha 
where  it  is  called  the  lobloUy  bay  (^Gcrrdonia  Uimintlpus)]  forty 
leet  high  and  even  higher?  with  dark  green  leaves,  and  covered 
1  am  told,  in  the  flowering  season,  with  a  profusion  of  mflk- 
white,  fragrant  blossoms.     This  plant  has  a  wide  range  in  the 
southern  states,  whereas  the  other,  G.  pubescem.  often  seen  in 
greenhouses  m  England,  about  thirty  W  high,  ^confined,  as  I 
am  iftformed  by  Mr.  Couper,  to  a  very  hmited  area,  twe&ty 
miles  in  its  greatest  length,  the  same  region  where  Bartram  first 
discovered  it,  seventy  years  ago,  near  Barrington  Ferry,  on  the 
Altamaha.*     In  no  other  spot  in%e  whole  continent  of  Amer- 
ica  has  It  evet  been  detected. '    If  we  w«re  told  that  one  of  these 
two  evergreens  was  destined  in  the  next  2000  or  3000  years  to 
become  extinct,  how  cquld  we  coiyecture  which  of  them  would 
endure  the  longest  ?     tVTe  ought  to  know  first  whether  the  area 
occupied  by  the  one  has  been  diminishing,  and  that  of  the  other 
mcreasmg.  and  then  wMeh  of  the  two  plants  haVbeen  on  the 
advance.     But  even  then  ^  should  require  to  foresee  a^count- 
lesfi  number  of  other  circumstances  in  the  animate  and  inanimate 
world  affecting  the  two  spec^.  before  we  could  make  a  probable 
guess  as  to  their  comparative  durabiUty.     A  single  frost  more 
severe  than  that  before  alluded  toj  which  out  off  the  orange-trees 
in  Honda  after  they  had  lasted  a  century  and  a  half,  might 
baffle  all  our  calculations ;  or  th§  increase  of  some  foe.  a  minute 
parasitic  insect  perhaps,  might  entirely  alter  the  conditions  on 
which  Uie  existence  of  them,  or  any  ojer  trees,  shrubs,  or  quad- 
rupeds depend.  ,  ^ 

During  a  fortnight's  stay  at  Hopetoi?.  we  had  an  opportunity 
of  jjeeing  how  the  planters  live  in  the  soSth.  and  the  condition 
ind  prospects  of  the  negroes  on  a  weU-managed  estate.  The 
relation  of  the  slaves  to  their  owners  re#mbles  nothing  in  the 
northern  states.  There  is  an  hereditary  regard  and  often  attach- 
lu^t  on  both  sides,  more  like  that  formerly  existing  between 
lords  and  their  retainers  in  the  old  feudal  times  of  Europe,  than  " 
to  any  thing  now  to  be  found  in  America.     The  iUvm  identify 


i' 


•  Jlfrtfini,  pp.  15»^.4«*. 


■^■•si^ffff"  •ti.'^^ 


"^^''B^tBP^.-^   ' 


262 


NEGROES  ON^^  RIOl  PLANTATION.      [ChIp.  XIX. 


themselves  with  the  master,  arid  their  sense  of  their  own  import- 
ance rises  with  his  success  in  life.     But  the  tesponsibility  of 
^the^ownort-is  felt  to  be  great,  and  to  manage  a  plantaition  with 

^  profitTs  no  easy  task  ;  so  much  judgment  is  required,  and  such  a 
riiixture  of  .firmness,  forbearance,  and  kindness.  The  evils  of 
4;he  system  of  slavery  are  ^id  to  be  exhibited  in  their  worst  light 
when  new  settlers  come  from  the  free  states ;  northern  men,  who 
are  full  of  activity,  and  who  strive  to  make  a  rapid  fortune,  will- 
ing to  rilk  their  owa  lives  in  an  unhealthy  climate,  and  who  can 
hot  make  allowance  for  the  repugnance  to  continuous  labor  o^- 

•^•the  negro  race,  or  the  diminished  motive  for  exertion  of  the  slave. 
To  one  who  arrives  in  Georgia  direct  from  Europe,  with  a  yivid 
impression  on  his  mind  of  the  state  of  the  peasantry  there  in 
many  populous  regions,  their  ignorance,  intemperance,  and  hn- 
providence,  the  difficulty  of  ol^itaining  subsistence,  and  the  «nall 
chance  they  have^of  bettering  their  lot,  the  conditioil  of  the  black 
laborers  on  such  a  property  as  Hopeton,  will  afford  but  smalt 
ground  for  lamentation  or  despdndency,  I  had  many  opportu^ 
nities,  while,  here,  of  talking  with  the  sitves  alone,  or  seeing' 
them  at  work.  I  may  be  told  that  this  was  a  favorable  speci- 
men  of  a  >vell-maAiaged  estate ;  if  so,  I  may  at  least  affirm  that 
more  chanf^  led  me  to  p'ay  this  visit,  that  is  to  say,  scientific  . 
objects  wholly  unconnected  with  the  "domestic  institihioaal'^ of 
the  south,  or  the  character  of  the  owner  in  relation  to  his  slaves  ; 
and  I  may  say  the  same  in  regard  to  every  other  locality  or  pro- 
prietor visited  by  me  in  the  course  of  this  tour.  I  can  but  relate 
whrff  passed  under  my  own  eyes,  or  what  I  learnt  from  good 
authority,  concealing  nothing. 

There  are  600  negroes  on  the  Hopeton  estate,  a  great  many 
of  whom  are  children,  and  some  old  and  superannuated.  The 
latter  class,  who  would  be  supported  in  a  poor-house  in  England, 
enjoy  here,  to.  the  end  of  their  days,  the  society  of  their  neigh- 
bors and  kinsfolk,  and  live  at  large  in  separate  houses  assigned 
to  them^  The  children  have  no  regular  work  to  do  till  they  are 
ten  or  twelve  years  old.  We  see  that  some  of  them,  at  this 
season,  are  set  to  pick  up  dead  loaves  from  the  paths,  others  to 
ii«rb«bre».     Whoirthe  mothen  we  iT^ork,  the  young"" 


*»,:; 
^ 


<f^: 


TTO 


'^T^T/!!f!w^f>sir-i/.''ia 


'*,'?'' 


Ohap,  il3f.] 


NEGRO  HOUSEg. 


268 


A ,  u'^V*®  ^'^^^^'^  *^'  ^^  ^"^  ''^**  ^^«'^'  «*"ed  Mom  Diana. 
Although  very  ugly  as  babies,  they  hava  such  bright,  happy 
faces  when  three  or  four  jears  old,  and  fromthat  age  to  ten  or 
twelve  h^ve  such  frank  aAd  con%ig  manners,  as  to  be  very  en- 
gagmg.     Whenever  we  met  them,  they  held  out  their  hands  to 

""ullu^**®'  *"^  ^^®"  ™y  ^^®  caressed  them,' she  w4s  often 
ask**  by  some  of  the  ladies,  whether  she  would  not  like  to  bring 
up^  one  of  the  girls  to  love  her,  and  wait  upon  her.  The  parents 
indulge  their  own  fancies  in  naming  their  children,  and  display 
a  singular  taste  ;  .for  onejs  called  January,  another  April,  a  third 
Monday,  and  a  fourth  rfard  Times.  The  fishCTman  on  the  estate 
rejoices  mthe  appellation  of  »  Old  Bacchus."  Quash  irfihe  name 
of  the  favorite  preacher,  and  Bulally  the  African  name  of  another 
negro^  .,. ,  .   ■  -  ,,  \ 

The  out-door  laborers  have  separate  hmises  provided  for  them- 
^\®."  Ifef  ;do"iestic  servants,  except  a  few  who  are  nurses  to  the 
white  children,  live  apart  from  the  great  house— an  arrangement 
not  alwa^ys  convenient  for  the  mas^rs.  as  t^ere  is  no  one  to  an- 
swer a  bell  after  a  certain  hour.  But  if  we  place  ourselves  in 
the  condition  of  the  majority  of  the  population,  that  of  servants, 
we  see  at  once  how  many  advantages  we  should  enjoy  over  the 
white  rade  m  the  same  rank  of  life  in  Europe.  In  the  first  place 
all  can  marry  ;  and  if  a  mistress  should  lay  on  any  young  woman 
here,  the  injunction  so  common  in  English  newspaper  advertise- 
ments for  a  maid  of  all  work,  "  no  followers  allowed,"  it  would 
be  considered  an  extraordinary  act  of  tyranny.  TjL  laborers 
begin  work  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  hivve  an  iSP s  rest  at 
nine  for  breakfast,  ^nd  Iwiy  have  finished  their  assigned  task  by 
two  o'cldck.  all  of  them  by  three  o'clock.  In  iummer  they  di- 
vide their  work  differently,  goi#g  to  bed  in  the  middle  of  the  day  J 
then  nsmg  to  finish  their  task.  ^'  afterward  K)ending  a  great 
part  of  the  night  In  chatting,  mer^-makin^reaching.  and 
psalra-si^gmg.  At  Christmas  they  claim  a  week's  holidays 
when  they  hold  a  kind  of  Saturnalia,  and  the  owners  can  get 
no  work  don©.  Although  there  is  scarcely  any  drinking,  the 
master  rejoices  when  this  season  i«  waII  ^y^  ^thnut  minrhirf 


f 


The  negro  houses  are  as  neat  as  the*  greater  fMirt  of  the  cottages 


-1' 


<: 


I  ■ 


-^  \ 


*fe 


i\ 


96^4 


HOSPITAL  IDE  NEGROES. 


[Chap.  XIX. 


'Ipil 


the  filante 
estates' id^ise 
tUb  ini 

lying^dei^ 
pital  at  ^b 


in  Scotland  "^K^  flattering  compliment  it  must  be  confessed);  are 
provided  always  ^^vith,  a  back  door,,  ffiid  'H  hall,  as  they.  caHy 
which  is  a  i6hest,  a  table,  two  ^  three  chairs,  and  a  fe^ 
for  crockery.     j0n  the  door  of  Ipe  sleeping  apartment 
a  lar^  woodeh  padlock^^o  guard  their  valuables  froj 
neighbors  when  they  axe  at  wor||  in  the^ela,  forpierd 
pilferiqg  amon|^  them.   >  A  little  |ard  is  (^^kttad^,  in  ilpuch 
^^^  theii^  cliickei|s,  and  usua^Ci^L  yelp^^^j^iir,  k^pV^for  th^ir' 

tey,  whens^the  whitis  ^W  the'ljib  » 
trviiM^Mwn.^r; ,the iii^j§^  rare!|'  ilj^^&$j';^iui| 

e  so  fatid  to  thet^whiw,  j|ia^  "^^^ 
9  ^^e  sea-isl'ands'Veviiit^^Ji^r 
j^faot  sleep  at  home.  Such  i^ 
heai,  that  they  are  ^^9  found 
d  in  ^  broiling  sun,  l^^tead  of 
hard  by.  We  visitosfejie  hi>8- 
tiV^li^*  consists  of  three  separate  war«|^aU  per- 
fed^y  clean  j|fld  "Weli-ventilated.  One  is  for  men,  an^er  for 
en,  apd'Ci^inl  f«r  lying-in,  wqmen.  The  latter  ar^Mways 
wed.  a^moilli's  rest  after  their  confinement,  ah  *d\witage 
jd^yed  by  hard-workiiig  English  peasants.  Altj^ough 
the|S^  iMstter  looked  after  aM  ^ept  more  quiet,  on  these  occa- 
am^i^  the  hospital,  the  planters  are  usually  baffled ;  for  the 
women  prefer  their  own  hduses,  w^ere  they  ^n,  gossip  with  their 
friends  Without  restraint, 'and  they  ttsually  contrive  to  be  taken 
l^urpriSe  at  home.  „      .. 

^  "jThe  negro  mothers  are  often  so  ignprant  or  indolent,  that  Uiey 
can  lidt  be  trusted. to  keep  awake  and  administer  medicine  to 
iheir  o^  children ;  so  that  the  mistres§  has  ofk^n  to  sit  up  all 
night  With  a  sick  negro  child.  In  submitting  to  this,  they  are 
actlre^ed  by  mixed  motiyea— a  feeling  of  kiitdiless,  and  a  fear  of 
losing  the  services  of  the  slp-ve  ;  but  these  attentions  greatly  at- 
tach the  negroes  to  their  owners.  Jn  general;  they^lye  to 
take  medicine  from  any  other  hands  but  those  of  their  Mfmr  or 
mistress.  The  laborers  ||||llowed  Indian  meal^^M||^W  inilk» 
iiiiij  III  I  iiiiiiiiiiillji  piiili  iiiijtWph      A n  thnir  Htt^^y*" iB??W    'H**^ 


■^r 


,'•  V 


^4 


S  Bm .  iMifWArtftf  A'jfttltf 


'-> 


OHf|p.  XIX.] 


WORK  EXACTED. 


1^65 


H*'' 


they  can  eat,  they  either  return  part  of  it -to  the  overseer,  who 
makes  them  an  aUpwance  of  money  for  it  at  the  end  of  the  week 
or  they  keep  it  to  feed  their  fowb,  which  they  usually  sell  as- 
weH  as  the^  eggs,  for  cash,  to  buy  .molasses,  tobacco,  and  other 
luxuries  When  disposed  to  exert  themselves,  they  get  through 
the  dayd  ta^k  m  five  hours,  and  then  amuse  themsflves  in  fish- 
mg,  and  seU^  the  fish  they  take ;  or  some  of  them  employ  their 
spare  time  m  makiflg  canoes  out  of  large  cypress  trees,  leave 
being  readily  granted  them  to  remove  such  timber,  as  it  aids  the 
lando^^^er  to  clear  the  ^wamps.  They  sell  the  canoes  for  about 
four  dollars,  for  their  own  profit.  , 

If  t^i^  mistress  pays  a  visit  to  Savannah,  the  nearest  town, 
she  IS. overwhelmed  with  commissions,  so  many  of  the  slaves 
wishmg  to  lay  out  their  small  gains  in  various  indulgences,  espe- 
ciaUy  articles  of  dress,  of  which  they  are  passionately  fond:  The 
stuff  must  be  of  the,  finest  quaUty,  and  m^  instructions  ajre 
given  as  to  the  precise  color  or  fashionable  shade.  White  mus- 
hn,  with  figured  patterns,  jis  the  rage  just  now. 

One  day,  when  walking  alone,  I  came  upon  a  <«  gang"  of  ne- 
groes, who  were  digging  a  trench.     They  were  superintended  by 
a  black  "dnver,"  who  held  a  whip  in  his  hand.     Some  of  the 
laborers  were'  uspg  .spaiies,  others  cutting  away  the  roots  tod 
stumps  of  trees,  which  they  had  encountered  in  the  line  of  the 
ditch.     Their  mode  of  proceeding  in  their  task  was  somewhat 
leisurely,  and  eight  hours  a  day  of  this  work  are  ex^jted,  though 
they  can  accomplish  the  same  in  five  hours,  if  the/ undertake  it 
by  the  task.     The  digging  of  a  given  number  of  feet  in  length 
breadth,  and  depth  is.  in  this  qase,  assigned  to  each  ditcher,  and 
a  deduction  made  when  they  fall  in  with  a  stump  or  root      The 
names  of  gangs  and  drivers  are  odious,  and  the  sight  of  the  whip 
was  painful  to  me  as  a  mark  of  degradation,  reminding  me  that 
the  lower,  orders  qf  slaves  .ire  kept  to  their  work  by  mere  .bodily 
lear,  and  that  their  treatme^  must  depend  on  the  individual 
ch^aoter  of  the  owner  or  overseer.     That  the  whip  is  rarely 
used,  a»d  often  held  for  weeks  over  |hem,  merely  m  terrar'em,  is 
I  have  no  doubt,  true  on  aU  weU  governed  estates  •  and  itis  not 

■ijg nflT — T/\i»ievii ri ft \\i n — ^w»#%«*4X>%— ^'■■■'L J  ^1^ — T — i — — -m — n — ■■- ■-■  ■  -. —  ■ — ^^ — * — ^ 


VOL.  I — M 


weapoirwfaiclt^-haWBeeii  exhibited  as  forme^ 


■.\ 


M 


P^«^ 


J  „   S  .    lj|f  •.  . 


-     -266 


AFRICAN  TOM. 


[Chap.  XIX. 


in  use  in  the  West  Indies.  It  is  a  thong  of  leather,  half  an  inch 
'  wide  and  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick.  No  ordinary  driver  'is 
allowed  to  give  more  than  six  lashes  for  any  offense,  the  head 
driver  twelve,  and  the  overseer  twenty-four.  When  an  estate 
is  under  superior  management,  the  system  is  remarkahly  effective 
in  preventing  crirne.  The  most  severe  punidiment  required  in 
the  last  forty  years,  for  a  body  of  500  negroes  at  Hopeton,  was 
for  the  theft  of  one  negro  from  another.  In  thkt  period  there 
has  been  no  criminal  act  of  the  highest  grade,  for  which  a  delin- 
quent could  be  committed  to  the  penitential^^  Georgia,  and 
there  have  been  only  six  cases  of  assault  and  battery.  As  a  race, 
the  negroes  are  mild  and  forgiving,  and  by  no  means  so  prone  to 
indulge  in  drinking  as  the  white  man  or  the  Indian.  Thfcre 
were  more^  serious  quarrels,  and  more  broken  heads,  among  the 
Irish  in  a  fe^  years,  when  they  came  to  dig  the  Brunswick 
Canal,  than  had  been  known  among  the  negroes  in  aU  the  sur- 
rounding plantations  for  half  a  century.  The  murder  of  a  hus- 
band by  a  black  woman,  whom  he  had  bfeaten  violently,  \a  the 
greatest  crime  remembered  in  this  part  of  Georgia  for  a  great 
length  of  time. 

l5Wer  the  white  overseer,  the  principal  charge  here  is  given 
to  "  Old  Tom,"  the  head  driver,  a  man  of  superior  intelligence 
and  higher  cast  of  feature.  He  was  the  son  of  a  prince  of  the 
Foulah  tribe,  and  was  taken  prisoner,  at  the  agip  of  fourteen,  imat 
Timbuctoo.  The  accounts  he  gave  of  what  he  rememberer  pf 
the  plants  and  geography  of  Africa,  have  been  taken  down  in 
writing  by  Mr.  Couper,  and  confirm  many^  the  narratives  of 
modern  travelers.  He  has  remained  a  strict  Mahometan,  but  his 
numerous  progeny  of  jet-black  children  and  grandchildren,'  all  of 
them  marked  by  countenances  of  a  more  European  cast  than 
those  of  ordinary  negroes,  have  exchanged  the  Koran  for  the  Bible. 
During  the  last  war,  when  Admiral  Cockburn  was  off  this 
coast  with  his  fleet,  he  made  an  offer  of  freedom  to  all  the  slaVeb 
belonging  to  the  father  of  my  present  host,  and  a  safe  convoy  to 
Canada.  Nearly  all  would  have  gone,  had  not  Africaiv  Tomr,  to 
whom  they  looked  up  with  great  respect,  declined  th<i  proposal. 


r^»lttthera  he  had  first  known  what  lia very  "was'in  the^W^est" 


# 


Chap.  XIX.] 


BLACK  MECHANICS. 


S67 


Indies,  and  had  made  up  his  mind  that  the  English  were  wor« 
masters  than  the  Americans.  About  half  of  them,  therefore, 
determined  to  stay  in  St.  Simon's  Island,  and  not  a  few  of  the 
others  who  accepted  the  offer  and  emigrated,  had  their  hves 
shortened  by  the  severity  of  the  climate  in  Canada. 

The  slave  trade  ceased  in„1796,  and  but  few  negroes  were 
afterward  smuggled  into  Georgia  from  foreign  countries,  except 
indirectly  for  a  short  time  through  Florida  before  its  annexation ; 
yet  one  fourth  of  the  population  of  this  lower  country  is  said  to 
have  come  direct  from  Africa,  and*  it  is  a  good  sign  of  the  prog- 
ress made  in  civilization  by  the  native-born  colored  race,  that 
they  speak  of  these  «« Africanians"  with  much  of  the  contempt 
with  which  Europeans  talk  of  negroes. 

Iwas  agreeably  surprised  to  see  the  rank  held  here  by  the 
black'  mechanics.  One  day  I  observed  a  set  of  carpenters  put- 
ting up  sluices,  and  a  lock  in  a  canal  of  a  kind  unknown  in  this 
part  of  the  world.  The  black  foreman  was  carrying  into  execu- 
tion a  plan  laid  down  for  him  on  paper  by  Mr.  Couper,  who  had 
observed  it  himself  many  years  ago  in  Holland.  I  also  8a\»ja 
steam-engine,  of  fifteen  horse  power,  madejn  England  by  BoWi 
and  Watt,  and  used  in  a  mill  for  threshing  rice,  which  had  beej. 
managed  by  a  negro  for  more  than  twelve  years  without  an  acci 
dent.  When  these  mechanics  come  to  consult  Mr.  Couper  oi 
business,  their  manner  of  speaking  to  him  is  quite  as  independen 
as  J;hat  of  English  artisans  to  their  employers.  Their  aptitude 
,  for  the  practice  of  such  mechanical  arts  may  encourage  every 
philanthropist  who  has  had  misgivings  in  regard  to  the  progress- 
ive powers  of  the  race,  although  much  time  will  be  required  to 
improve  the  whole  body  of  negroes,  and  the  movement  must^  be 
general.  One  planter  can  do  little  by  himself,  so  long  as  q^SJ 
tion  'is  forbidden  by  law.  I  am  told  that  the  old  colonial  sta,^tiiS 
against  teaching  the  slaves  to  read  were  almost  in  abeyance,  and 
had  become  a  dead  letter,  until  revived  by  the  reaction  against 
the  Abolition  agitation,  since  which  they  have  been  rigorously 
ei#r^d  and^mde  more  stringent.  Nevertheless,  the  negroes 
are  piten  taugMto  read,  and  they  learn  much  in  Sunday  schools, 
and  for  the 'fq^jf  part  are  desirouB  of  instruction. 


I 


I! 


■  „■  ■i- 


# 


t 


^^llStmmmmmSmm 


igt.'' 


"W- 


268 


PROORBSS  OF  NEGROES. 


[Crap.  XIX. 


In  tho  hope  of  elevating  the  character  of  some  of  his  negroes, 
and  giving  them  more  Bd|^^d^j^^fie,  Mr.  Couper,  by  way  of 
experiment,  sot  apart  '^^^^Sfhnefit  of  twenty -five  picked 
men,  and  gave  up  tojjn^ppi^r  Saturday's  labor  to  till  it. 
In  order  that  thoy  mif|tTknoMir  its  value,  they  wore  cornpelled  to 
work  on  it  forthb  fiirtlftyear,  and  tho  product,  amounting  to  1500 
dollars,  was  dividtsd  equally  among  them.  But  when,  at  length, 
thoy  wore  left  to  themselves,  they  ^^d  Ifi^MHMil'^  '^^  ^^^  ^^^  ^^ 
t^  years  the  ^Id  was  unoultivated^flSH  there  ap^anr'i;o  me 
nothing  disheartening  in  this  failure,  which  .may  "have  been  chiefly 
owing  to  th^iliblding  the  property  in  common,  a  scheme  which 
was  found jn<i|tD  answer  even  with  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  when 
they  first  c^l^^zed  Plymouth — men  whom  certainly  none  will 
accuse  ofJ|i(iolenoe  or  a  disposition  to  shrink  from  continuous 
labor.  Tfn€  «*  dolce  far  niente"  is  doubtless  the  negro's  paradise, 
and  I  once  neard  one  of  them  singing  with  much  spi^t  at  Will- 
iamsburg un  appropMate  song  : — 

"  Old  Virginia  never  tiro,  y^"^  j^ 

Eat  hog  and  hominy,  and  lie  by  the  "  -^'  ^^ 


and  it  is  qnito  enough';  thdt  a  small  minorrty  should  be  of  this 
mind,  to  taake  all  the  others  idle  and  unwilling  to  toil  hard  for 
the  benefit  of  tho  sluggards.     -       ^  %^ 

When  conversing  with  difibrqiit  Ranters  hem,  in  regard  to 
tho  capabilities  and  futureprogress  of  the  black  population,  I  find 
them  to  agree  very  goneM^  intijhe  opMon  that  in  this  part  of 
Georgia  they  appear  under^great  disadvantage.  In  St.  Simon's 
islan!^  it  is  admitted,  that  tj^fl^groes  on  the  toiallor  estates  are 
more  civilised  than  on  th<l^^er  prope^^s,  bec&iM  tliey^ossp- 
ciato  with  a  greater  proj)ortion  of  whitesV'^JiMGrlyim  Qiinty^ 
wh-ci^  'l^e  are  now  residing,  there  are  no  ^j^j^hm  4000  negpeJlli^ 
to  700  ts^hites  ;  whereas  in  trOorg^ijigonerallyg,  there '^ are  oi^y 
^€1 ,000  slaves  in  a  population  of  CIbPOIL  or  .more  whites  than 
colored  peojplc^  '*^"  Throughout  the  up|§r  coimtry  there  is,  a  large 
prcpo4iltanc6  of  Anglo-Saxons,  and  a  little  reflection  will  satisfy 
the  r||!der  how  mu<|jh  the  education  of  a  race  which  starts  orig- 
4aalIy-^^H5o  low^^  ^i^|e^  ef -inteUeotuftl,  Boeittlr  inwal»"tmd~- 


%s       * 


■.*^,^'&4.:i^lt±L.ii^^i.^\  iL^ 


« 


% 


Ohap.  XIX.] 


% 


CONVERSION  OF  NEGROES. 


269 


spiritual  development,  as  the  African  negro,  must  depend  not  on 
learning  to  read  and  write,  but'  on  the  amount  of  familiar  inter- 
course which  they  enjoy  with  individuals  of  a  more  advanced 
race.  So  long  as  they  herd  together  in  large  gangs,  and  rarely 
come  into  contact  with  any  whites  save  their  owner  and  over- 
seer, they  can-  profit  little  by  their  imitative  faculty,  and  can 
not  oven  make  much  progress  in  mastering  the  English  language, 
that  powerful  instrument  of  thought  and  of  the  communication 
of  ideas,  which  they  are  gaining  in  exchange  for  the  limited  vo- 
cabulary of  their  native  tribes.  Yet,  even  in  this  part  of  Georgia, 
the  negroes  are  very  far  from  stationlftty,  and  each  generation  is 
acquiring  habits  of  greater  cleanliness  and  propriety  of  behavior, 
while  some  are  learning  liftchanical  arts,  and  every  year  many 
of  them  becoming  converts  to  Christianity. 
\  Although  the  Baptist  and  Methodist  missionaries  have  been 
the  most  active  in  this  important  work,  the  Episcopalians  have 
not  been  idle,  especially  since  Dr.  Elliott  became  Bishop  of 
Georgia,  and  brought  his  talents,  zeal,  and  energy  to  the  task, 
he  fouiiidlhat  the  negroes  in  general  had  no  faith  in  the  effi- 
,of  baptism  except  by  complete  immersion,  he  performed  the 
fimonf  as  they  desired.  Indeed,  according  to  the  old  English 
^c,  all  persons  were  required  to  be  immersed  in  baptism,  ex- 
cept  '^iwi  they  were  Sick,  so  that  to  lose  converts  by  not  com- 
Piyji^g^ph  this  popular  notion  of.  the  slaves,  would  hardly  have 
been  justifiaHe.  ^  It  may  be  true  that  the  poor  negroes  cherish  a 
superstitious  belief  that  the  washing  out  of  every  taint  of  sin  de- 
pends n^ainly  on  the  particular  manner  of  performing  the  rite, 
and  the  principal  charm  to  the  black  women  in  th^H^mony  of 
total  immersion  consists  in  decking  themselves  out  ^jHke  robes, 
like  brides,  and  having  their  shoes  trimi^d  withlpp^.  .  They 
well  know  thjt  the  waters  of  the  Altamaha  are  chilly,  and  that 
they  and  tl)«  officiating  minister  run  no  small  risk  of  catching 
cold,  biilt'^to  this  penance  they  most  cheerfully  submit. 

Of  daf^ng  and  music  the  negroes  are  passionately  fond.  On 
the  Hopeton  plantation  above  twenty  violins  have  been  silenced 
by  the  Methodist  missionaries,  yet  it  is  notorious  that  the  slaves 
woic  nDTfivcu  to  dnnk  nr  mtefflperauce  in  their  rnerry-makihgsr 


~<«MiU. 


i^. 


270 


SEPARATION  OF  CHURCHES. 


A  /iA>|i 


At  the  Methodist  prayer-meetings,  they  are  pemutted  to  move 
round  rapidly  in  a  ring,  joining  hands  in  token  o</  brotherly  love, 
presenting  first  the  right  hand  and  then  the  left,  in  which  ma- 
ncBuvre,  I  am  told,  they  sometimes  corvfrive  to  take  enough  exer- 
cise to  serve  as  a  substitute  for  the  dance,  it  being,  in  fact,  a  kind 
of  spiritual  boulanger,  while  the  singing  of  psalms,  in  and  out  of 
chapel,  compensates  in  no  small  degree  for  the  songs  they  have  * 
been  required  to  renounce. 

However  much  we  may  feel  incUned  to  smile  at  some  of  these 
outward  tokens  of  conversion,  and  however  crude  may  be  the  no- 
tions of  the  Deity  which  the  poor  African  at  first  exchanges  for 
his  belief  in  the  evil  eye  and  other  superstitious  fears,  it  is  never- 
theless an  immense  step  in  his  progress  toward  civilization  that 
he  should  join  some  Christian  sect.  Before  he  has  time  to  ac- 
quire high  conceptions  of  his  Creator,  or  to  comprehend  his  own 
probationary  state  on  earth,  and  his  moral  and  reli^ous  duties,  it 
is  no  small  gaih  that  he  should  simply  become  a  member  of  the 
same  church  with  his  master,  and  should  be  taught  that  the 
•v}^te  and  colored  man  are  equal  before  God,  a  doptrine  calcu- 
lated to  raise  him  in  his  own  opinion,  and  in  that  of  the  dominant 
race. 

Until  Utely  the  humblest  slave  who  joined  the  Methodist  or 
Baptist  denomination  could  feel  that  he  was  one  of  a  powerful 
association  of  Christia*is,  which  numbered  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  brethren  in  the  northern  as  well  as  in  the  southern  states. 
He  could  claim  many  schools  and  colleges  of  high  repute  in  New 
England  as  belonging  to  his  own  sect,  and  feel  proud  of  many 
celebrated  writers  whom  they  have  educated.  Unfortunately,  a 
recent  separation,  commonly  called  "  th'e  north  and  south  split," 
has  severed  thiMb  bonds!  of  fellowship  and  fraternity,  and  for  the 
sake  of  renouncing  brotherhood  with  slave-owners,  the  northern 
churches  have  repudiated  all  communion  with  the  great  body  of 
their  negro  fellow'  Christians.  What  effect  can  such  estrange- 
ment have  on  the  mind,  whether  of  master  or  slave,  favorable  to 
the  cause  of  emancipation  ?  Thfe  slight  thrown  on  the  aristo- 
cracy of  planters  has  no  tendency  to  conciliate  them,  or  lead  them 
to  assimilate  their  "sojatimraTs  To  ~tKdi6"^Thwrbf^ 


.« 


y 


Hnxt,  Xt%*1 


/ 


y 


tri 


Ikith,  with  whom  formerly,  throughout  the  norther^  and  fxm 
states,  they  had  so  intimate  a  connection ;  and  at  fi>r  thjS  slavet, 
it  is  to  them  a  pontive  loss  to  be  thus  rejected  and  diBo<lhied. 
The  rank  and  position  of'the  negro  preachers  in  the  south,  whether 
Baptist  or  Methodist,  some  of  them  freemen,  and  of  good  abili- 
ties, is  decidedly  lowered  by  the  severance  of  the  northern  churches, 
which  is  therefore  adverse  to  the  gradual  advancement  of  the, 
African  race,  which  xsan  alone  fit  them  £)r  maniimission. 

Sisme  of  the  planters  in  CS-lynn  County  have  of  late  permitted 
the  distribution  of  Bibles  among  their  slaves,  and  it  was  curious 
to  remark  that  they  who  were  unable'  to  read  Were  as  anxious  to 
possess  them  as  those  who. could.  Besides  Christianizing  the 
blacks,  the  clergy  of  aU  sects  are  doing  them  incalculable  service, 
by  preaching  continually  to  both  races  that  the  matrimonial  tilb 
should  be  held  sacred,  without  respect  to  color.  To  the  domi- 
nant race  one  of  the  most  serious  evils  of  slavery  is  its  tendency 
to  blight  domestic  happiness  ;  and  the  anxiety  of  parents  for  their 
sons,  and  a  constant  fear  of  their  licentious  intercourse  with  slaves, 
is  painfully  great.  We  know  but  too  much  of  this  evil  in  free 
countries,  wherever  there  is  a  vast  distance  between  the  rich  and 
poor,  giving  a  power  to  wealth  which  insures  a  frightful  amount 
of  prostitution.  Here  it  is  accompanied  with  a  publicity  which 
is  keenly  felt  as  a  disgrace  by  the  more  refined  of  the  white 
women.  I^e  female  slave  is  proud  of  her  connection  with  a 
white  man,  and  thinks  it  an  hoiior  to  have  a  mulatto  child,  hop- 
ing that  it  will  be  better  provided  for  than  a  black  child.  Yet 
the  mixed  offspring  is  not  very  numerous.  The  mulattoes  alone 
represent  nearly  all  the  illicit  intercourse  between  the  white  ^an 
and  negro  of  the  living  generation.  I  am  told  that  they  do  not 
constitute  more  than  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  c^  the  whole  popu- 
lation. If  the  statistics  of  the  illegitimate  children  of  the  whites 
born  here  could  be  conujoi!^  with  those  in'Great  Britain,  it  might 
lead  to  conclusions  i^n&^ineans  fkvorable  to  the  free  ooimtry . 
Here  there  is  no  posslhil^y  of  concealment,  the  color  of  the  child 
stamps  upon  him  the  mark  of  bastardy,  ,and  transmits  it  to  great- 
grand-children  born  in  lawful  wedlock  ;  whereas  if,  in  Europe, 
"there  was  lonie  mafk~OT~indelible  stain  bet]rayingfli^¥e  delin- 


M 


Y^Mi  uMia:  d/1 


jitTi  iiriiiiiMjiHi^iiififfi -^    -'--* 


•  ^osp-*"  •  ?«^^*^;^^f<t,'-s.5;'j-rftf ""^"^  • 


zn 


MOEAL  CONDITION  OF  NEGROES.        [Ohap.  XIX. 


quencies  and  frailties,  no*  onlyol"  parents,  but  pf  ancfestors  for 
three  or  four  generation*  back,  \ifhat  unexpected  disclosures  should 
we  not  witness !         .  ,        '.  ^* 

There  are  scarcely  aiiy  instances  of  mulattoes  bom  of  a  black 
father  and  a  white  mother.     The  colored,  women  who  become  the 
mistresses  of  the  white  men  are  neither  rendered  miserable  nor 
degraded,  as  are  the  white  women  who  ate  seduced  in  Europe, 
and  who  are  usually  abandoiifed  ii*  the  end,  and  left  to  be  the 
victims  of  wanj  and  disease.     In  the  northern, stfi,t^6f  America: 
there  is.so  little  profligacy  of  this  kind,  that  their  philanthroiv 
pists  may  perhaps  be  usefully  occupied  in  considering  hotr  the. 
mischief  inay  be  alleviated  south  of  the  Potomac  j  but  in.  (xreat 
Britain  thfere  is  so,  much  need  of , reform  at  home,  that' the  whole  \ 
thoughts  and  energies  of  the  rich  ought  tS'be  conoentrattSi  irt^such^ 
schemes  of  improvement  as  may  pnable  .us  to  set  an  example  of 
a  higher  moral  standard  to  the  slave-owning  aristocracy  of  the 
Union.  '  '  '  '"  -^  .,.;  ,..*     •^. 

On  one  of  the  estates  in  this  part  of^  Georgia,  there  is*a  muliBitto\ 
mother  who  has  niije  children  by  a  full  black,  an4  the  difference 
of  shade  between  them  and  l^erself  is  scarcely  perceptible.  If  the  * 
white  blood  usually  predominates  in  this  way  in  th^  second  gen- 
eration, as  I  am  told  is  the  case,  amalgamation  would  jproceed 
very  rapidly,  if  marriages  between  the  racef  ^eire  one©  legal- 
ized ;  for  we  see  in  England  that  black  nien  can  persuade  veiry 
respectable  white"  women  to  marry  them,  when  all  idi^a  of  the 
illegality   and  degradation  of  such-unions  is  ftreign  t%,  their    ' 

thoughts.         ^  '  ;*  "Jflkt  ^ 

Among  the  6b8t4iles"  which  the  Christian  nflPlnaries  encount' 
er  here  whcgi  thpy  teach  the  virtue  of  chastity,  I  must  not*omit 
to  mention  the  loose  code  of  'morality  which  the  Africans  haye  iuf . 
herited  from  their  pareiits.     My  wife  made  th^  acquaintance  of  (^ 
a  lady  in  Atabama,  who  had  brought  up  with'  great  care  a  col 
ored  girl,  who  grew  up  modest  and  well-behaved,  tiU  at  length 
she  became  the  mother  of  a  mulatto  child,    ^'f  ho  mistreis  Ve 
proached  her  yei^  severely  for  her  misconduct,  and  the  g^rl  at  , 
first  took  tlie  rebuke  much'  to  h^rt ;  but  having  gone  home  one 
day  to  viiit  her' mother.,  a  native  Africftn.  slie  returaqd.  saying. 


^ 


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f 
4 


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•^ 


"H" 


t*. 


♦  ' 


■■"^^',?     '■•WW' 


273 


■  Chap.  XIX.]        MORAL  d^NDITION  OF  NEGROES. 

that  her  parent  had  assured  lier  slie  h^d  done  nothing  wronfl-  and 


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^ 


-fe-..^ 


^j% 


